Power Sector Opportunities for Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Illinois

This fact sheet by the World Resources Institute (WRI) analyzes how Illinois can utilize existing policies and infrastructure to reduce power plant CO2 emissions, estimating a potential 35 percent reduction below 2011 levels by 2020.

• WRI analysis indicates that Illinois can achieve a 35 percent reduction in CO2 emissions below 2011 levels by 2020, which would meet or exceed moderately ambitious EPA power plant emissions standards (estimated to require reductions between 32 and 37 percent).
• Existing policy targets provide significant reduction potential: meeting the renewable energy standard (requiring 25 percent of electricity from renewables by 2025) could reduce emissions by 17 percent below 2011 levels in 2020, and meeting energy efficiency standards could provide a further 9 percent reduction.
• Infrastructure-based opportunities include running existing combined cycle (NGCC) natural gas plants at 75 percent capacity to reduce emissions by 8 percent below 2011 levels by 2020, and increasing coal plant efficiency by 2.5 percent to achieve a 1 percent reduction.
• Additional measures to ensure compliance with more stringent standards include increasing the use of combined heat and power (CHP) systems at hospitals, universities, and manufacturing sites, or expanding the renewable energy target by 1 percent per year beyond 2025.

APA

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

Chicago

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

Wikipedia

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

BibTeX

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