New Wind Data Finds a Windier, More Self-Reilant Midwest

March 2, 2010 - PRLog -- Five Midwest states (Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio) could get nearly all their electricity from wind, according to updated maps from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR).  New data from Wind Powering America mean that 32 states could get all of their electricity from in-state resources, even more than initially revealed in ILSR’s ground-breaking report last fall, Energy Self-Reliant States.  The revised estimates come from the National Renewable Energy Lab’s Wind Powering America project and are the first nationwide update since the early 1990s.

Armed with the new data, ILSR researchers have updated the full-color maps of state-by-state renewable energy potential, and an interactive comparison of the new and old data is available on ILSR’s New Rules Project website.  The revised figures are dramatic enough to boost the five Midwest states mentioned to near total self-reliance on wind power.  

Click directly to the new maps here: http://www.newrules.org/energy/news/new-wind-data-finds-windier-more-selfreilant-midwest

The expanded second edition of Energy Self-Reliant States and the revised maps are available online at http://www.newrules.org/.


About ILSR and the New Rules Project: Since 1974, ILSR has worked with citizen groups, governments and private businesses in developing practices that extract the maximum value from local resources. A program of ILSR, the New Rules Project focuses on local, state and national policies that enable that goal.

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