Jim McCalley
An Iowa State University professor says Iowa could play an important role in renewable energy if President Joe Biden’s two-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan passes Congress.
Jim McCalley, a professor in electrical and computer engineering, says the president’s plan could make Iowa more valuable by building more transmission networks to export wind energy.
McCalley says some regions of Iowa have “fantastic” wind resources. “Of course, that means you need to move that energy and so building that transmission is kind of the key to that whole concept,” he says. The Biden plan is focusing, in part, on environmental impact and would introduce more focus on wind and solar energy.
McCalley says since there would be incentives to use green energies, Iowa could play a large role in helping the country fulfill those needs. “Other states may be looking towards the least cost way to satisfy those kinds of requirements,” he says, “and Iowa and other Midwestern states have to be in the crosshairs of people that are thinking in that fashion.”
McCalley says the transition to using more wind and solar energy would not only be environmentally effective, but also economically effective. He made his comments on the Iowa Public Radio program River to River.
(By Kassidy Arena, Iowa Public Radio)