The Spanish Fork wind farm, geothermal energy from Milford and new solar panels will generate more of the electricity Utahns get from power companies.

This is the future envisioned in the state's new greenhouse gas reduction targets announced Friday.

"Our goal is to reduce our emissions to 2005 levels by 2020," said Rick Sprott, director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

"This is the first step," added Dianne Nielson, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s energy adviser.

Nielson and Sprott said the reductions would be market-driven and would save money for business, government and Utahns.

They also would be accomplished, in part, with regulations already targeting emissions from transportation, energy production and energy efficiency in buildings. Many of the reductions would help ordinary Utahns save money, they said.

The goals aim to help the state meet its responsibilities under the Western Climate Initiative, a multistate group developing a regionwide cap-and-trade program to cut greenhouse gasses, and under any national program that Congress is likely to adopt.

Sprott and Nielson pointed to Wasatch Integrated Energy Systems in Davis County and Rio Tinto, the parent company of Kennecott Utah Copper, and the Daybreak development in western Salt Lake County as examples of businesses that are already working towards a reduction in greenhouse gasses.

But they said people also need to make energy saving part of their lifestyles for the goals to be accomplished.

Currently, the average Utahn is responsible for about 27 metric tons of greenhouse gases annually - about 2 metric tons more than the U.S. average. It adds up to a statewide total of 69 million tons, or 1 percent of the nation's gross emissions, according to an analysis done for the Governor's Blue Ribbon Advisory Council on Climate Change.

Utahns start out with higher per-capita emissions, compared with many other states, because of the state's heavy reliance on electricity from coal-fired plants, a growing population and transportation habits.

New fuel-efficiency standards, cleaner diesel fuel and building codes that stress energy efficiency would help the state make the reductions. Meanwhile, rising fuel and heating and cooling costs also should drive people to look for savings.

Rep. Roger Barrus, R-Centerville, said the executive branch has a different approach from the Legislature to dealing with climate change. Many lawmakers are not convinced that a cap-and-trade program won't damage Utah's economy, he added. So, they are pursing technology solutions to make coal-burning and other fossil fuels cleaner instead.

More jobs and economic prosperity would come from "a technology solution and let the market address the solution - and it will," he said.

Sarah Wright, director of Utah Clean Energy, an advocacy group, noted that consumers and businesses would benefit by saving money on heating, cooling and fuel. "It starts us on the right path," she said of the new greenhouse gas goals.

fahys@sltrib.com