Electric utilities and others in Iowa should make solar power production a priority in the coming years to complement the state’s robust wind energy production and to further shift away from the use of fossil fuels, a large group of researchers and educators said Tuesday.
More than 200 science faculty at three dozen colleges and universities endorsed this year’s annual Iowa Climate Statement, which since 2011 has urged elected officials to recognize the effects of climate change and to embrace policies that help curb the Earth’s rising temperatures.
The cost of solar panels has plummeted about 90% in the past two decades, which has made them an increasingly viable alternative to coal-fired power plants, said Dave Courard-Hauri, a professor of environmental science and sustainability at Drake University. Switching electricity production from coal to solar and wind is key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he said.
“Iowa has made huge strides in this effort in becoming the nation’s leader in per-capita wind production, which in turn has been a boon to our economy in terms of production jobs, income for farmers and low electricity rates,” Courard-Hauri said. “But at the same time, we lag far behind many of our neighbors in terms of solar infrastructure.”
Electricity generated by solar panels in Iowa has grown considerably in recent years but pales in comparison to the amount generated by wind, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In 2022, wind energy accounted for about 62% of the state’s electricity generation and was more than 100 times greater than what was produced with solar panels.
Solar and agriculture can ‘coexist’
Solar wind farms have been resisted by some in recent years because they could impede development, take farmland out of production and disrupt the rural landscape.
Counties have adopted temporary moratoriums on their construction, and state lawmakers have proposed legislation to restrict where solar farms can be built. Bills that did not get enough support to become law in the past two years would have imposed minimum distances between the solar farms and dwellings and livestock facilities, and would have prohibited their construction on the most-productive farmland.
But Peter Thorne, a professor of occupational and environmental health at the University of Iowa, said solar panels can coexist with agriculture. They can provide shade for livestock and native vegetation, and some solar array designs allow panels to be placed among row crops.
“A one-acre solar farm produces as much energy as approximately 100 acres of ethanol from corn,” Thorne said. “So solar could produce as much energy in Iowa as wind does today, leading Iowa to close in on that 100% renewables benchmark that we want to achieve.”
Climate change viewed as ‘major threat’
The public’s attitude toward climate change has shifted since the first Iowa Climate Statement was released in 2011. That statement was a plea to recognize the effects of a warming planet.
At the time, fewer than half of adults in the United States thought climate change posed a major threat, according to the Pew Research Center. By 2018, about 59% of adults said it did, although that percentage declined to 54% last year.
Still, about two-thirds of U.S. adults surveyed by Pew this year said the federal government should encourage wind and solar power production. Burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil is believed to be the main contributor to climate change because the resulting emissions trap heat from the sun.
“People are becoming more sensitized to the fact that even a degree rise in the global average temperature is a huge amount,” said Gene Takle, an emeritus professor of agronomy at Iowa State University. “You know, 20, 30 years ago, people were just pooh-poohing that.”
Global temperatures have increased by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. About two-thirds of that increase has happened since 1975.
July 2023 was the Earth’s hottest month on record, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Those hot temperatures, lingering droughts, severe storms and more-frequent flooding have changed people’s attitudes about climate change, Courard-Hauri said.
“It’s hard to get through summers like we just had without feeling like there’s a difference,” he said. “Things feel different now than they did in the relatively recent past.”