Iowa is the corn capital of America which also makes it the ethanol capital, with an annual current production capacity of 1.5 billion gallons of that gasoline supplement. The trouble is that most of the production plants use a lot of natural gas and electricity produced in coal fired power plants. Some Iowans believe there is an alternative that works:
How many Americans would risk living in a place where January temperatures hover around -18F, if they had to rely on sun or wind power for heat?
What happens when the sun goes down and the wind dies?
That is why, despite the push for ethanol and wind power, coal is still king when it comes to powering Iowa.
It currently provides 85% of the state’s energy needs.
Phil Wyse, a state representative for 22 years, believes Iowa and America need nuclear power.”We need sources of power that are constant and don’t rely on things like whether the wind’s blowing or the sun’s shining,” he says.
“Alternative to coal? Nuclear more in the mix.”
Despite all the wind energy and ethanol Iowa strives to produce, carbon emissions are still growing here – and they are 1% higher than the average for the whole of the US.
