Open house of solar homes and businesses, October 2

Visit homes and businesses around the state to see renewable energy up close. In addition to showcasing solar and wind power, houses will feature energy efficiency, green building techniques, and sustainable living ideas. Speak with home and business owners and find out how renewable energy works for them. Self selected driving tours will be available throughout the state.

Tours are FREE and open to the public between 10 am and 4 pm. To view the locations and details of the sites in your area, go to http://www.the-mrea.org/solartour.php.

The Wisconsin solar tours are part of the National Solar Tours of the American Solar Energy Society that are happening in states across the country on the same day.

Take action! U.S. senators introduce stand-alone RES

Urge Your Senators to Support the Renewable Electricity Promotion Act

Take action!

[Tuesday] afternoon, Senators Bingaman (D-NM), Brownback (R-KS), Dorgan (D-ND), Collins (R-ME), Udall (D-NM), and Udall (D-CO) introduced a 15% by 2021 renewable electricity standard (RES) bill, The Renewable Electricity Promotion Act. This opens the door for us to move a national RES into law this year. For this RES-only bill to move forward, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will need to allow this bill to come up for a floor vote, and at least 60 Senators will need to vote in favor of it. Please call or e-mail your two U.S. Senators and ask them to co-sponsor and support The Renewable Electricity Promotion Act.

Congress has an extremely narrow window of opportunity to pass a national RES this year. Your efforts to express the urgency of passing this policy to your Senators are greatly appreciated.

International peak oil speaker, September 22

A CENTURY OF CHALLENGES:
Building Local Resilience in an Era of Economic Turmoil & Resource Depletion

Wednesday, September 22nd, 7:00 PM
Room 180 Science Hall, 550 N. Park St., Madison

Peak Oil and the implosion of high-leverage finance schemes around the world are converging into a “perfect storm” that may threaten prosperity and social cohesion. The consequences are frightening: “hallucinated wealth” is vanishing, real unemployment is rising, and social unrest is growing amid global tensions over energy resources, water and land. Families and communities should prepare for the challenging times ahead.

A Presentation By

Nicole M. Foss

(a.k.a. “Stoneleigh”)

Energy Industry Consultant and Financial Analyst at

http://www.theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/

Free and open to the public. Donations welcome.

Sponsored by: Energy Hub, UW Madison WISPIRG/Big Red Go Green,
Madison Peak Oil Group, and Transition Madison Area

Info: http://www.uwehub.org/ or contact Hans Noeldner, 608-444-6190, hans_noeldner@charter.net

PSC issues final report on the potential for carbon sequestration

From a news release issued by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin:

MADISON – The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today issued a final report on the potential for geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide produced by coal-fired power plants serving Wisconsin electricity consumers.

Based on recommendations by the Governor's Task Force on Global Warming, the PSC and the DNR formed a Study Group to look into the potential for geologic carbon sequestration to help satisfy Wisconsin’s need for cleaner sources of electricity. Geologic sequestration involves a process of capturing carbon dioxide produced by power plants that otherwise would be released into the atmosphere and securely storing, or sequestering, the carbon dioxide (CO2) underground.

Carbon dioxide is one of several known greenhouse gases (GHG) that contribute to global warming.

“In a greenhouse gas limited economy and with Wisconsin’s reliance on coal for electric generation, carbon sequestration makes sense.” said PSC Commissioner Mark Meyer.

"Wisconsin is in a strong position to support ongoing carbon sequestration efforts and collaborate with other states and regions in making carbon sequestration possible.”

Key findings of the Study Group include:

+ Several promising technologies are being developed and tested for capturing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
+ Carbon dioxide can be captured either pre- or post-combustion, depending on the type of power plant, and compressed for transport and sequestration.
+ Long-distance transport of carbon dioxide is a proven, viable option with over 3,000 miles of pipeline already in use for this purpose nationwide.
+ Wisconsin should consider a holistic approach to carbon sequestration that addresses both the public and private interests involved and will allow Wisconsin to work effectively and efficiently with adjacent states to implement proposed projects.
+ Wisconsin may benefit long-term from the further exploration and development of CO2 storage in the region; however, it is not very likely to happen in the short-term (2 to 5 years) or mid-term (5 to 20 years).

The final report also includes analysis of three potential scenarios in which carbon from generating facilities serving Wisconsin customers could be captured, transported and sequestered.

Wind generation reduces climate-changing emissions

From a report titled "The Facts about Wind Energy’s Emissions Savings" prepared by the American Wind Energy Association:

. . . four of the seven major independent grid operators in the
U.S. have studied the emissions impact of adding wind energy to their power grids, and all four have found that adding wind energy drastically reduces emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants. While the emissions savings depend somewhat on the existing share of coal-fired versus gas-fired generation in the region, as one would expect, it is impossible to dispute the findings of these four independent grid operators that adding wind energy to their grids has significantly reduced emissions. . . .

DOE data show that wind and other renewables’ share of Texas’s
electric mix increased from 1.3% in 2005 to 4.4% in 2008, an increase in share of 3.1 percentage points. During that period, electric sector carbon dioxide emissions declined by 3.3%, even though electricity use actually increased by 2% during that time. Because of wind energy, the state of Texas was able to turn what would have been a carbon emissions increase into a decrease of 8,690,000 metric tons per year, equal to the emissions savings of taking around 1.5 million cars off the road.

ATC expands 10-year plan to $3.4 billion

From a blog post by Tom Content on JSOnline:

American Transmission Co. on Thursday unveiled a 10-year transmission plan that calls for higher spending than the same report envisioned a year ago.

Driving the $3.4 billion electric transmission system assessment are a series of new projects that aim to help take advantage of lower cost power across the Midwest as well as help import renewable energy into Wisconsin, the power-line utility said in a statement.

“There is an increasing need for an expanded regional transmission system because of an emerging wholesale marketplace and federal and state policy changes,” said Flora Flygt, ATC director of strategic projects.

Projects included in the 10-year plan include a proposed 150-mile, 345,000-volt power line linking Madison and La Crosse, as well as upgraded transmission system facilities to accommodate increased power that’s proposed to be generated by the Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Manitowoc County.

In addition, a six-mile, 345,000-volt line will be proposed to alleviate transmission congestion in Kenosha County, ATC said.

Newsletter: Siting council, Cashton wind, Seventh Gen, and more

RENEW Wisconisn's summer newsletter includes these articles:

Council Backs Compromise on Siting Standards
After four months of intensive review and debate, the 15-member Wind Siting Council presented to the Public Service Commission (PSC) its final recommendations on the statewide permitting rule under development. The Council’s report comes at a critical juncture; the PSC will issue a fi nal rule on this proceeding before the end of August.

Community Wind on Move in Cashton
What may become Wisconsin’s first example of a Community Wind project cleared a significant hurdle in June when the Village of Cashton in Monroe County issued a permit to allow the construction of two Vestas V90 turbines, totaling 3.6 megawatts (MW), inside its business park.

Seventh Generation Pioneers Wind
Unusual from its start as a not-for- profit in the business of renewable energy, Seventh Generation Energy Systems (commonly called Seventh Gen) continues to pioneer organizationally and technically with the addition of Jim Yockey, executive director, and Ry Thompson, project manager. Alicia Leinberger, one of the founders of Seventh Gen, oversees marketing and business development for the eight-year-old organization.

Making Sense of the Gulf Disaster
About 100 people gathered in downtown Madison in early July to take part in “Hands Across the hands,” an internationally organized protest against continued oil drilling in and along the world’s coastal waters. Against the backdrop of the weed-choked waters of Lake Monona, they joined hands for 15 minutes to express their fervent desire to see a cleaner, less destructive energy future emerge from the liquid melanoma spreading across the Gulf of Mexico.

No doubt the protestors would like to do more, much more, than simply engage in a ritualized protest in front of a few camera crews. But we live in a society that is organized around the expectation of a limitless supply of nonrenewable hydrocarbons feeding concentrated energy into our economic bloodstream. Most of us have not bothered to comprehend the yawning gulf that lies between our best intentions and our abject dependence on the wealth-producing properties of petroleum.

Turbines Power Cascade Wastewater
With the start-up of two 100-kilowatt (kW) wind turbines, the Village of Cascade became the first Wisconsin community to power its municipal wastewater treatment plant with 100 percent locally produced wind energy.

The impetus behind Cascade’s embrace of wind power was the avoided utility expenditures associated with operating a wastewater treatment plant. In the first year of operation, Cascade
stands to save $30,000.

Calendar
Sept. 29 -- Solar Decade Conference, Milwaukee, WI. A comprehensive solar energy educational opportunity for your home, business, and career. Sponsored by Focus on Energy, We Energies, and others. For details see www.solardecade.com.

Sept. 30 - Oct. 1 -- 2010Solar Thermal ‘10, Milwaukee, WI. A national solar heating and cooling conference and expo for solar thermal professionals. For details see www.the-mrea.org.

October 2, 2010 -- Solar Tour of Homes and Businesses. All across Wisconsin. Owners open their doors to let people see how renewable energy is practical, reliable, and affordable in today’s economy. The homes and businesses often include other energy effi ciency and renewable technologies. For details see www.the-mrea.org.

October 13, 2010 -- Wisconsin Wind Energy Supply Chain Workshop, Milwaukee, WI. Learn how to join the wind energy supply chain from fi rst tier and aftermarket manufacturers. For details see www.thenewnorth.com.

Mar. 9 - 12, 2011 -- Green Energy Summit: The Green Frontier, Milwaukee, WI. An acclaimed professional/academic conference featuring keynote speakers, workshops, demonstrations, and exhibits. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Technical College System Foundation and others. For details see www.greenenergysummit.us.

Political gridlock not likely to forestall energy regulation

From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Bayside — The partisan divide on Capitol Hill means cap-and-trade legislation is all but dead, so businesses need not worry about their carbon footprint, right? Wrong, speakers at a summit on energy efficiency said Tuesday.

The Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and global corporations such as Wal-Mart are leading the nation down a path of "quiet regulation" of greenhouse gases, despite the political rhetoric and battles that have created gridlock in Congress, Mark Thimke, environmental lawyer at Foley & Lardner, said during the Green Manufacturing Summit at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center.

But corporate initiatives have gone beyond Wal-Mart, he said.

Suppliers to 62 corporations must provide information as part of a greenhouse gas supply chain initiative launched this year. That effort includes Racine County-based manufacturers S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. and Diversey Inc., formerly JohnsonDiversey.

Thimke said that means a host of companies that may have thought they didn't have to worry about greenhouse gases should start paying attention.

"Even if you aren't one of the big companies and you are selling to these people, you need to know where you're at," Thimke said.

Energy efficiency is a carbon strategy because emissions are linked to energy production.

Efficiency opportunities abound for many manufacturers, said Jon Dommissee of Bradley Corp., a manufacturer of commercial plumbing fixtures, which co-sponsored the event.

"There's a lot of energy wasted - and there's a lot of money wasted," he said.