The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is highlighting how greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in Iowa dropped for the second year in a row, primarily from a decrease in power plant emissions. This includes notable increases and decreases in wind power and coal, respectively, the agency says.
The DNR’s legislatively mandated, newly released “2016 Iowa Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report” shows GHG emissions statewide decreased 2% from 2015 levels and 9% from their peak in 2007.
Notably, according to the DNR’s report, power plant emissions decreased 14% in 2016, and they went down 40% from their peak in 2010 as the amount of electricity generated in Iowa from renewable energy increased. From 2015, wind power saw a 12.18% increase in generation, and coal saw a 14.12% decrease, the report notes.
The DNR says generation from coal decreased from 78% in 2005 to 47% in 2016. The percentage generated from wind increased from 4% to a whopping 37% in the same period.
This is the 11th GHG inventory conducted for Iowa. The inventory is a policy-neutral calculation of Iowa GHG emissions in 2016, which includes sectors of agriculture, fossil -fuel combustion, industrial processes, natural gas transmission and distribution, transportation, and waste. It also includes carbon sinks and emissions from land use, land-use changes and forestry.
The complete report can be found here.
