Natalia Welzenbach-Marcu | January 2nd, 2019

The United States changed its source, use, and attitude on energy drastically between 2001 and and 2017. Each star progressed in its own way, having different resources and laws and goals. Here’s a summary of Iowa’s energy story.

Wind power increased in Iowa exponentially in these past 16 years. From 2001 to 2017, the use of wind power in Iowa’s overall energy increased from 1% to 37%. Despite these increases in clean energy, Iowa still produces over 40% of its energy from coal.

Iowa is one of the windiest states in the country and is the third largest producer of wind energy, thanks to its largely flat landscape.  Iowa was also the first state to pass legislationin 1983 requiring some energy to come from a clean source, though an update to these terms would help set us on the path to a cleaner, greener future.