The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it now has a list of the various greenhouse gas emissions being released in the state. D.N.R. air quality specialist, Marnie Stein says the greenhouse gas inventory is an important early step in trying to reduce pollution.
Stein says the inventory tells exactly how much greenhouse gas emmissions are being released from the 276 largest industrial sources in Iowa and the 28 drymill ethanol plants from the fuel they’re combusting. Stein says this inventory will serve as the baseline as the state moves ahead with reduction plans. She says the ultimate goal is to measure the emissions and then use those measures in future reduction and regulatory programs.
Stein says it’s part of the state’s overall plan. Stein says the legislature and governor passed the bill requiring the D.N.R. to do the annual inventory and created the Climate Change Council which has the task of coming up with recommendations to reduce greenhouse gases by 50% by 2050.
The report says total greenhouse gas emissions were calculated to be just over 52-million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The report says this is equivalent to annual greenhouse gas emissions from over 9,534,277 passenger vehicles or the CO2 emissions from the electricity use of nearly 6.9 million homes for one year. To see the entire inventory report, go to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources website.