Renewable Energy Installations in WI

Monday, February 25, 2008

Governors: Include coal in energy debate

From an Associated Press story by Andrew Welsh-Huggins:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Governors pushing alternative energy development are not shying from coal, a major culprit in global warming but also a homegrown energy source and an economic lifeline for many states.

Leaders of coal-rich states say clean-coal technology is a must. Governors from states without coal want more evidence the technology works.

"There's no doubt there's a tension and there's no doubt there is very rapidly growing public opposition to coal," said Gov. Jim Doyle, D-Wis. His state relies heavily on coal for power although Wisconsin is not a coal producer.

Energy tops the agenda at the governors' annual winter meeting. The group's new clean energy initiative seeks to promote renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"Next-generation coal is going to need to continue to be part of our energy future for this country," said GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, chairman of the National Governors Association.

"It is abundant, it is available, it is Americanized in the sense that we control the supply," he said Saturday. "We would be incomplete and doing a disservice to the debate and the ultimate policy direction that we're going to take if we don't envision coal being part of that."

Next-generation coal typically refers to capturing and somehow sequestering or storing the carbon that coal produces. It also envisions reducing or eliminating emissions as coal is burned.

Pawlenty has embraced renewable fuels such as corn-based ethanol and conservation, but he also promotes clean-coal technology.

Such technology is a rallying cry for many coal-producing states. They say it is possible to continue relying on the fossil fuel while minimizing its impact on the environment.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Read RENEW Wisconsin's newsletter online

RENEW Wisconsin's quarterly newsletter contains the following articles:

+ Solar Water Heating's Day of Superlatives
+ Calumet Voters Strongly Favor Wind
+ Renewable Profiles: Steve & Nancy Sandstrom
+ Wind a No Go in Trempealeau
+ Windpower Projects Near Completion
+ Calendar
You can read the newsletter online in RENEW’s News and Views.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Global warming task force issues interim report

From a story by Thomas Content and Lee Bergquist in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
To tackle global warming, Wisconsin should:

• Consider erecting wind turbines on the Great Lakes.

• Reward utilities for cutting energy use instead of building power plants.

• Study the possibility of pumping carbon dioxide from power plants into the ground or sending it by pipeline to other states.

Those are among the recommendations in an interim report that the Governor's Task Force on Global Warming will vote on Tuesday in Sun Prairie.

The task force also will endorse a significant cut in energy use by Wisconsin homes and businesses as a critical first step in addressing global warming. . . .

. . . the panel sought to concentrate on how the state can move the quickest. Its top pick: energy conservation.

If it cuts its appetite, Wisconsin would reverse course and, by 2015, cut electric demand by 2% per year, and natural gas use by 1% annually, the report says.

Other strategies call for adoption of building codes that promote energy efficiency, incentives for green buildings and a directive to owners of rental units to install high-efficiency lighting in public spaces.

To bolster the state's portfolio of renewable power, the report calls for a study by year's end that would evaluate the potential for Great Lakes wind power.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Alliant subsidiary will reduce green house gas emmissons

From a press release issued by Alliant Energy:

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – February 8, 2008 – Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL), a subsidiary of Alliant Energy Corporation (NYSE: LNT), proposed today to permanently reduce its generating fleet’s greenhouse gas emissions by retiring coal-fired generating units and switching the fuel source of other coal-fired units to natural gas when its proposed Sutherland Generating Station Unit 4 becomes operable in 2013. . . .

IPL expects that the generating station retirements and fuel switch at the Dubuque power facility will have no impact upon current employees.

“We, alone, have an obligation to serve our customers and this plan fulfills that obligation by providing our customers with safe, reliable and environmentally responsible energy,” states Tom Aller, president of IPL. “Our proposal improves Iowa’s air quality and environment while providing a reliable energy supply to support the growth of Iowa’s economy. We are preparing Iowa for a bright energy future by confronting the challenges of greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring a reliable energy supply today.”

As part of its greenhouse gas emissions reduction proposal, IPL will retire Lansing Generating Station’s coal-fired units 2 and 3. In addition, the company will permanently switch the fuel source of its Dubuque Generating Station Units from coal to natural gas. This will reduce these units’ maximum potential to emit CO2 by more than 800,000 tons per year. These potential changes in IPL’s generating fleet are contingent upon the company receiving all applicable regulatory approvals related to Sutherland Generating Station Unit 4’s site certification and ratemaking principles applications.

IPL estimates that its energy efficiency programs, which include the new five-year plan the company expects to file with the IUB later this year, will reduce customers’ electric usage by nearly 2 million megawatt-hours by 2013. As a result, IPL’s system-wide CO2 emissions are expected to be reduced by approximately 2.57 million tons per year compared to what those emission levels would be absent the company’s energy efficiency programs.

IPL recently received approval to build 200 MW of wind generation in Iowa by 2013 that will also serve to reduce the Company's system-wide CO2 emission levels by approximately 934,000 tons per year in 2013 from what those emissions levels would be absent this investment.