RENEW's winter newsletter goes online

The Wisconsin Renewable Quarterly, RENEW Wisconsin's newsletter, features these articles:

+ Rest in Peace: Cassville Generation Plant
+ Mississippi River Bird and Bat Study
+ Osceola School Heats Pools with Solar
+ Bob Ramlow: Solar Pioneer
+ Focus on Energy Issues Biogas Profiles
+ Focus on Energy Earns National Honor
+ State Plugs into Renewable Energy

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Summer/fall newsletter now online

RENEW Wisconsin's summer/fall edition of Wisconsin Renewable Quarterly is now online, including the following articles:

Peak Oil Spices Meeting with Cong. Baldwin
Countdown to Solar Tour
Solar H2O on Madison Fire Stations
Global Warming Task Force Report
Wisconsin’s Newest Wind Projects
PHEV+Wind=Clean Air
Small Wind Conference Wrap-up

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Oak Creek plant settlement includes renewable energy commitments

From a story posted on the Web site of The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

The three owners of the Elm Road Generating Station in Oak Creek will pay $105 million over a 25-year period for Lake Michigan protection projects to end a three- year legal battle over the water intake structure at the power plant, Clean Wisconsin and the Sierra Club said Wednesday.

Clean Wisconsin and the Sierra Club filed suit after the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued a permit allowing the use of a once-through cooling system at the coal-fired power plant. The organizations claimed that once-through cooling did not represent the best available technology for cooling the plant and thus should not be permitted.

Under the settlement, the three utilities that own the generating station -- We Energies of Milwaukee, Madison Gas & Electric of Madison and Wisconsin Public Power Inc. of Sun Prairie -- agreed to the following:

- Funding $4 million per year from 2010 through 2035 for projects to address water quality issues in Lake Michigan such as invasive species, polluted runoff, toxic loadings, and habitat destruction;

- Purchase or construct 15 megawatts of solar generation by Jan. 1, 2015; and

- Support legislative efforts to establish a renewable energy portfolio standard of 10 percent by 2013 and 25 percent by 2025.

We Energies will also retire two coal-fired units in Presque Isle, Michigan and ask the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin for approval to construct 50 megawatts of 100 percent biomass-fueled power in Wisconsin.

In a media release, Mark Redsten, Exeuctive Director, of Clean Wisconsin said:

"We're happy to have reached an agreement that has significant benefits for both the lake and the fight against global warming. These environmental protections help ensure Lake Michigan is a healthy natural resource for generations to come."

From a separate release issed by the Sierra Club:

“In the long run, this agreement will result in dramatic improvements to the overall health of Lake Michigan and will contribute to the development of renewable energy sources such as solar and biomass,” said Jennifer Feyerherm, Wisconsin Clean Energy Campaign Director.

“It will help us address two of the most critical issues of our time—climate change and protection of one of the world’s greatest freshwater natural resources.”

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Governors' meeting in Milw invites public participation

A meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord will meet in Milwaukee, July 29, 2008, 12:30- 4:30PM.

According to the meeting Web site, during the breakout sessions:

. . . a subgroup member will give a short presentation regarding the composition and work of the subgroup. There will also be time allotted where the presenter will solicit questions and comments from the audience.

The Web site also explains the accord:

Last November, nine Midwestern states and a Canadian premier signed the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Accord at a summit of governors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Realizing the unique and major impact that the Midwestern states play in the emissions of carbon, these governors wanted to institute Midwestern practicality in the debate on global warming. While the Midwest has intensive manufacturing and agriculture sectors, making it the most coal-dependent region in North America, it also has world-class renewable energy resources and opportunities to allow it to take a lead role in solving the effects of climate change. The geographical location and ideological-centered beliefs of the Midwestern region provide its leaders with an ability to push the federal policy debate in a productive direction. Through the Accord, these governors agreed to establish a Midwestern greenhouse gas reduction program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their states, as well as a working group to provide recommendations regarding the implementation of the Accord.

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Alliant needs more compelling case for new coal plant

From an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Wisconsin Power & Light Co. took a significant step recently when it promised to offset the greenhouse gas emissions from a new coal plant it is proposing to build in southwestern Wisconsin. Company officials understand the importance of balancing energy sources to provide customers with reliable and affordable energy while reducing emissions that contribute to climate change.

The problem is that while Wisconsin needs power, it also needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, not just offset increases in emissions. So while WP&L officials deserve credit for proposing their mitigation plan, they still need to make a more compelling case than they have so far for building a coal plant in Cassville.

State regulators need to carefully examine that case before they make their decision by the end of the year. And unless WP&L officials make a convincing case for the kind of coal plant they have proposed, the state shouldn't give its OK.

In a recent meeting with the Journal Sentinel Editorial Board, company officials said demand was growing at a rate of 2% to 3% per year. To meet that demand, the utility says it needs to build a 300-megawatt $1.1 billion base load plant that would generate enough power to supply 150,000 homes.

Based on those numbers, WP&L, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy Corp., makes a reasonable case. Neither conservation nor renewable sources now available are likely to fill that demand.

But an analysis by state environmental and energy regulators predicts demand to grow by 1.65%. That analysis also concluded that although Alliant "needs to procure more energy resources to keep rates affordable," this particular coal plant proposal was "not the least-cost option." The environmental group Clean Wisconsin and the ratepayer group Citizens' Utility Board oppose the plant and have urged the utility to spend more on energy efficiency and renewables. . . .

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RENEW Wisconsin Comments on Comprehensive Strawman Proposal for Governor Doyle’s Global Warming Task Force

From a statement on behalf of RENEW Wisconsin submitted by Michael Vickerman to the Governor's Global Warming Task Force:

These comments, submitted on behalf of RENEW Wisconsin, address the strawman proposal developed by the co-chairs of Governor Doyle’s Global Warming Task Force. I represented RENEW in the Electric Generation and Supply Workgroup and took part in the drafting and preparing of several specific proposals that were submitted to the full Task Force. Among them were proposals to establish (1) uniform permitting standards for wind projects, (2) fixed-rate production-cost-based tariffs to stimulate customer-sited renewable energy systems; and (3) post-2015 renewable energy requirements on utilities. The comments address various proposed changes to the existing renewable energy standard (RES). . . .

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Tax carbon, don’t cap it

From an editorial on The Journal Times (Racine):

With the emphasis on global warming this week as the U.S. Senate debates a bill to limit carbon dioxide emissions, let us begin with the idea that the bill is fundamentally wrong.

It wants to impose a cap-and-trade system to control greenhouse gases. The government would allow a certain number of tons of carbon dioxide to be emitted every year — with the number diminishing as time passes — and an auction would allow companies with low emissions could sell their excess capacity to industries with high emissions.

The idea is to adhere to current science and cut carbon emissions below year 2000 levels in order to avoid the more extreme effects of global warming. There is a better method of doing this than the Senate plan, and that is with a tax.

It makes more sense, is more uniform, is much more honest, and would achieve the objective more efficiently.

A cap-and-trade system does not impose a real cost — indeed, as long as a dirty plant can buy credits it can continue operation — and thus interferes with market pressure for change. If all carbon emissions were taxed, all of us would have incentive to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels or choose other power sources. There would be more incentive for energy markets to develop alternatives. Better still, a carbon tax could be, and should be, segregated into a pool of money used for alternative energy research and development.

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Challenge the Governor's Task Force on Global Warming

From Hans Noeldner:

Citizens!

Let's challenge the Wisconsin Governor's Task Force on Global Warming to take its own medicine! Please contact the co-chairs and urge them to:

(1) Determine the "Carbon Footprint" of the Task Force's upcoming
meeting on Thursday, April 18

(2) Establish specific greenhouse gas reduction targets for
subsequent Task Force meetings

(3) Announce the Task Force's April 18 "Footprint" and its reduction
targets (via press conference or press release)

(4) Measure "Carbon Footprints" for all subsequent meetings

(5) Provide the public with a final report

Email your request to:

Tia Nelson, co-chair tia.nelson@wisconsin.gov

Roy Thilly, co-chair rthilly@wppisys.org

----------
Background
----------

(1) The job of the Task Force on Global Warming is to design policies
that will slash Wisconsin's greenhouse gas emissions 60 to 80% below
1990 levels by the year 2050.

(2) Unfortunately, preliminary calculations indicate that the Task
Force's current policy recommendations fail to even reduce emissions
below current levels. Clearly there is MUCH MORE work to do!

(3) Why should the Task Force measure its own Carbon Footprint and
establish its own reduction goals? Because when Task Force members
begin to "walk the talk", they will make an essential shift in their
THINKING – from the abstract and hypothetical to specific ACTIONS
here and now – for example, on their way to and from Task Force
meetings.

(4) Is this a tall order? No. Here is what needs to happen:

a. Task Force members who drive to meetings would either record
actual fuel consumption or estimate fuel consumption based on
distance traveled and MPG for their vehicle

b. In lieu of recording actual travel distances, driving members
could use Google Maps to compute their totals

c. Wisconsin Public Power Inc. would measure/estimate/prorate heating
and electrical consumption in facilities used by the Task Force

d. Task Force support staff would compute the totals

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Kenosha resident generates green power, profits from wind & sun

From a press release issued by Focus on Energy:

KENOSHA, Wis. — Charles Heide of Kenosha is the latest Wisconsin resident to discover the benefits of clean, renewable energy, including reduced energy costs and the satisfaction that comes from helping preserve the environment. His recently completed solar electric and wind systems feed surplus power back to the grid, resulting in monthly energy bill credits.

In June 2007, Heide installed a large 35-kilowatt (kW) wind turbine and in September2007, he installed a 10.5 kW solar electric system. The projects were completed with the help of nearly $65,000 in grants from Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s energy efficiency and renewable energy program.

Each year, Heide’s wind and solar electric systems will generate more than 87,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power eight typical Wisconsin homes. The renewable energy produced by these systems will offset the burning of 44 tons of coal and the release of more than 100 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and a major contributor to global climate change.

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Earth Day Celebration, April 26, at Havenswood State Forest

John Bahr, a member of RENEW Wisconsin's Board of Directors, will make four presentations at the Earth Day Celebration at Havenwoods State Forest:

10:00-10:15  Alternative energy sources
11:00-11:15   Cool Cities program
12:30-12:45  Wind power
1:15- 1:30       Global warming

Saturday April 26, 2008
Havenwoods State Forest
6141 N. Hopkins Street, Milwaukee
1 block west of Sherman Blvd. on Douglas Ave.

John began his career with General Electric doing process and product design. After receiving a Ph. D. in biomedical engineering he was appointed to a faculty position by the Medical College of Wisconsin where he did research, system development and taught in the Department of Pediatrics and Obstetrics. He has authored several books and technical papers, and went on to manage two new national businesses in medical data processing before retiring. He also chairs the Energy and Global Warming Committee for the Sierra Club.

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