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Iowa State University

Coal power plant in Iowa, United States of America. Approximate location 42.0275, -93.6394.

CoalIowaUnited States of AmericaCO₂ reported

Iowa State University is a 46 MW coal power plant in Iowa, United States of America. It is operated by Iowa State University. Based on reported annual generation of 106 GWh, it can supply roughly 30,428 homes. It ranks #2874 of 9,833 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1982, it is around 44 years old — long-established. Its measured emissions of 66,095 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE) are equivalent to about 15,407 cars driven for a year. In context, coal supplies about 16.3% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

46MW installed capacity
106GWh reported / yr
30,428homes powered
66,095t CO₂ / yr (Climate TRACE)
1982commissioned (~44 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id USA0054201.

66,095 t CO₂/yr — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

15,407passenger cars driven for a year
8,620homes' yearly energy use
1,101,583tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; emissions reported to Climate TRACE.

Reported generation trend

2013: 126 GWh20132014: 115 GWh20142015: 114 GWh20152016: 100 GWh20162017: 107 GWh20172018: 108 GWh20182019: 106 GWh2019126 GWh

Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Iowa State University.

Local climate & thermal context

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 42.0°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

9.1°Cannual mean temp
3,615heating degree-days (base 18°C)
392cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
291 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -8 °CJF: -4 °CFM: 2 °CMA: 10 °CAM: 16 °CMJ: 21 °CJJ: 23 °CJA: 22 °CAS: 18 °CSO: 11 °CON: 2 °CND: -5 °CD23 °C

Heating degree-days here run 47% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 78/100 — this site sits in the top third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #256 largest coal power plant of 286 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 286 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 249,149 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 42.0275, -93.6394 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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