Power Sector Opportunities: Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Wisconsin

WRI analysis indicates that Wisconsin could reduce CO2 emissions by 43% below 2011 levels by 2020 by extending clean energy policies and optimizing existing infrastructure, which would surpass hypothetical EPA reduction requirements of 28% to 33%.

• Wisconsin has the potential to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 43 percent below 2011 levels by 2020. This would be achieved by extending clean energy policies past 2015 and optimizing existing infrastructure, a result that would meet or exceed hypothetical EPA standards requiring reductions between 28 and 33 percent below 2011 levels.
• Clean energy policies offer two primary paths for reduction: extending the renewable energy standard beyond the 2015 requirement of 10% electricity from renewables could reduce emissions by 6 percent below 2011 levels by 2020, and continuing the Focus on Energy program could reduce them by 9 percent below 2011 levels by 2020.
• Infrastructure optimizations provide further reduction opportunities: increasing combined heat and power (CHP) use by approximately 60 percent could reduce emissions by 11 percent; running existing combined cycle (NGCC) natural gas plants at 75 percent capacity could reduce emissions by 9 percent; and increasing coal plant efficiency by 2.5 percent could reduce emissions by 1 percent (all relative to 2011 levels by 2020).

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Power Sector Opportunities: Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Wisconsin. https://www.wri.org/research/power-sector-opportunities-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-wisconsin

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Power Sector Opportunities: Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Wisconsin. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/power-sector-opportunities-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-wisconsin.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Power Sector Opportunities: Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Wisconsin |url=https://www.wri.org/research/power-sector-opportunities-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-wisconsin |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendpower, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Power Sector Opportunities: Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Wisconsin}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/power-sector-opportunities-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-wisconsin}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }