When a Missouri company breaks ground on a DeKalb County wind farm next month, it ushers in a project that promises to create 2,500 jobs and generate power for 50,000 homes.

But a report released Tuesday by an international environmental organization says that barely touches the state's potential in developing renewable energy.

The Natural Resources Defense Council commissioned the analysis that detailed Missouri's prospects with non-fossil fuel energy generation and the impact on rural parts of the state.

Northwest Missouri, having a foothold in the wind and alternative fuel markets, got several mentions in the 24-page report.

"Missouri can be at the heart of the new energy future," said Pierre Bull, a policy analyst for the council.

According to the report, Missourians look favorably upon new energy technologies, passing Proposition C in November, a referendum to generate 15 percent of state electricity from renewable sources by 2021. However, state

residents now spend $18 billion a year on fossil fuels (gasoline, natural gas, coal-fired electricity) with almost all of that money going out of Missouri and sustaining jobs elsewhere.

"If a small fraction of this were devoted to developing local renewables, it would create thousands of jobs, particularly in rural communities," said Martin R. Cohen, author of the report. "Missouri is rich in renewable resource potential."

Wind farms already dot the landscape in Northwest Missouri. Wind Capital Group of St. Louis, which has 80 wind turbines generating 162.5 megawatts now in Gentry, Nodaway and Atchison counties, plans its biggest project for DeKalb County. The Lost Creek wind farm, a $300 million investment, will have 100 American-made turbines and 150 megawatts in generating power, with the completion date next July.

Even with this, Mr. Cohen said in a Tuesday conference call that Missouri trails neighboring states such as Iowa (3,000 megawatts) and Illinois (1,000 megawatts). If the state fulfilled its potential on 2,500 square miles of wind-dense land, the 25 utility-grade wind farms could support 550 permanent jobs and produce $75 million in annual economic benefits, the report said.

Mr. Cohen's analysis also touched on the possible expansion of Missouri efforts in biofuels and solid biomass energy.

Mark Templeton, director of the state Department of Natural Resources, said during the conference call that Missourians have worked through the evolving technology.

"There's been a lot of experimentation done over the last five to 10 years," he said. "Some of the things that may have been true earlier where we didn't get quite the efficiency out of some of the agricultural products, we now know a lot more."

Ken Newton can be reached

at kenn@npgco.com.