Development of Iowa Coal, A Systems Analytic Approach, October 1976

(1976) Development of Iowa Coal, A Systems Analytic Approach, October 1976. Iowa State University

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Abstract

It seems reasonable to view the implementation of any public goal such as the development of Iowa's coal reserves as a three-step process The first step is to evaluate the merit of the goal and thus answer the fundamental question of whether or not its implementation constitutes a worthwhile use of public funds. If and when the worth of the goal has been affirmed, attention should turn to the question of how to best attain the goal. Assuming that it is determined that a large-scale research and development project is the best way to implement the goal, further investigation is necessary to determine how the project's budget should be allocated among possible subprojects which may be proposed to investigate particular aspects of the problem .area. Then, and only then, the third step of the three-step process can be implemented. This step involves carrying out the actual research and development. In the framework of the Iowa coal project, a feasibility study has been funded to investigate the first step of the process. The systems analysis is concerned with the second stage of the process. All of the other projects are concerned with the third stag~ of the process.