How much pollution will be displaced or otherwise prevented?
Due to the complex nature of the regional electric grid and the rules under which it operates, it is nearly impossible to forecast the exact amount of pollution KCW will prevent, as the source of generation displaced by KCW will vary from time to time. On average the American Wind Energy Association has estimated that each megawatt of wind capacity built displaces 1,800 tons of C02 per year given the current mix of generation fuels, indicating that on average a 42 megawatt KCW facility would displace over 75,000 tons of C02 per year. On a larger scale, the US Department of Energy has estimated that meeting 20% of the country’s electrical needs with wind could “reduce the electrical sector’s natural gas requirements by about 50% and its coal requirements by about 18%” – which translates into avoiding up to 825 million tons of CO2 emissions annually, along with a multitude of other pollutants.
