Iowa is on track to achieve its proposed carbon reduction goal as part of the Clean Power Plan, according to the Iowa Wind Energy Association.
According to a new report, ‘Iowa's Wind Potential for Addressing 111(d) Goals: The Potential for Tapping Iowa's Wind Resources To Reduce CO2 Emissions,’ the state's abundant wind resource is more than adequate to cost-effectively meet Iowa's requirements under the Clean Power Plan.
According to wind energy experts Dan Turner and Thomas A. Wind, the report's authors, Iowa can achieve its proposed 16% carbon reduction goal by 2030 by building a modest amount of wind – 2.3 GW – and taking no other action.
In that, more than 1.2 GW of wind will have already been built in Iowa by 2016. Once these projects are completed, Iowa will be more than halfway to meeting its proposed carbon reduction goal. To reach the remaining 1,100 MW of wind, an average of 74 MW of wind would need to be built between 2016 and 2030.
The report also finds that Iowa can build and sell wind energy, infrastructure and services to other states – meaning the Hawkeye State can reap associated economic and employment benefits.
