by jboullion | Dec 22, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the Public Service Commissiion of Wisconsin:
MADISON – Two reports released today by the Public Service commission of Wisconsin (PSC) indicate that Wisconsin’s electric utilities and cooperatives continue to make steady progress in adding renewable energy to the state’s energy supplies. All of the electric providers meet or exceed state requirements and many offer incentives to customers who want to generate their own renewable electricity.
Renewable Portfolio Standard Compliance
Wisconsiin’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) law requires retail electric providers to produce 66 percent of the state’s eelectricity from renewable resources by the year 2010, and 110 percent by 2015. each year, Wisconsin utilities and cooperatives are required to report to the PSC their progress in meeting thee renewable milestones. Today the PSC released the 2009 RPS compliance Report which indicates:
- All 118 Wisconsin electric providers met their RPS requirement for 2009;
- 113 providers exceeded their requirements for the year, creating excess renewable resource credits that can be banked and used for compliance in future years; and,
- In 2009, 6.29 percent of the electricity sold by the state’s utilities and cooperatives was generated from renewable resources, up from 4.90 percent in 2008.
Distributed Renewable Generation
PSC also released a status report on its investigation into “advanced a term renewable tariffs,” a term used to describe long-term contracts whereby utilities and cooperatives offer to purchase electricity at premium prices from customers who generate electricity from small, renewable systems such as solar panels. Highlights of the status report include:
- More than 300 of Wisconssin’s electric providers, representing about 90% of the state’ s electricity market, have voluntarily offered this kind of incentive;
- Customers have responded by installing more than 10 MW of small, distributed capacity utilizing biogas (from manure digesters on farms), solar panels, and wind turbines; and,
- An additional 8.2 MW off generation capacity, mostly from biogas projects, is under construction and will soon be generating electricity.
by jboullion | Dec 22, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the Public Service Commissiion of Wisconsin:
MADISON – Two reports released today by the Public Service commission of Wisconsin (PSC) indicate that Wisconsin’s electric utilities and cooperatives continue to make steady progress in adding renewable energy to the state’s energy supplies. All of the electric providers meet or exceed state requirements and many offer incentives to customers who want to generate their own renewable electricity.
Renewable Portfolio Standard Compliance
Wisconsiin’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) law requires retail electric providers to produce 66 percent of the state’s eelectricity from renewable resources by the year 2010, and 110 percent by 2015. each year, Wisconsin utilities and cooperatives are required to report to the PSC their progress in meeting thee renewable milestones. Today the PSC released the 2009 RPS compliance Report which indicates:
+ All 118 Wisconsin electric providers met their RPS requirement for 2009;
+ 113 providers exceeded their requirements for the year, creating excess renewable resource credits that can be banked and used for compliance in future years; and,
+ In 2009, 6.29 percent of the electricity sold by the state’s utilities and cooperatives was generated from renewable resources, up from 4.90 percent in 2008.
Distributed Renewable Generation
PSC also released a status report on its investigation into “advanced a term renewable tariffs,” a term used to describe long-term contracts whereby utilities and cooperatives offer to purchase electricity at premium prices from customers who generate electricity from small, renewable systems such as solar panels. Highlights of the status report include:
+ More than 300 of Wisconssin’s electric providers, representing about 90% of the state’ s electricity market, have voluntarily offered this kind of incentive;
+ Customers have responded by installing more than 10 MW of small, distributed capacity utilizing biogas (from manure digesters on farms), solar panels, and wind turbines; and,
+ An additional 8.2 MW off generation capacity, mostly from biogas projects, is under construction and will soon be generating electricity.
by jboullion | Dec 22, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a guest column by State Representative Jennider Shilling in the La Crosse Tribune:
I read Gov.-elect Scott Walker’s column (Monday’s Tribune) and continue to be amazed at his insistence that killing the high-speed rail project and shipping thousands of jobs to California, Florida and Illinois is a victory.
He has said that turning away $810 million in funding and the thousands of construction and manufacturing jobs will somehow save taxpayers money. But what Walker fails to mention is that Wisconsin taxpayers will now be on the hook for up to $61.3 million in freight and passenger rail upgrades that need to be made and would have been paid for by the federal grants. Because he turned away that money, 100 percent of these costs will now fall on Wisconsin taxpayers.
Because his numbers don’t add up, Walker also tried to paint this project as a high-speed rail line to nowhere. In reality, the Chicago-Milwaukee upgrade and Milwaukee-Madison line would have been the first leg of a major project between Chicago and the Twin Cities. I’ve always said that this infrastructure investment would be like our investment in the interstate projects of the 1950s, and it’s hard to imagine what our state would look like today if we had turned down federal money to construct these highway projects.
While I could argue the merits of this project at length, the most unbelievable statement of his was that he couldn’t imagine people in western Wisconsin supporting the high-speed rail project. Had he been listening to the residents in La Crosse and throughout our region, I am sure he would have reached a very different conclusion.
by jboullion | Dec 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
A news release for the Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence:
First-of-its-kind pilot size study to turn organic waste and
biobased plastics into a clean energy resource
MADISON, WI – In an effort to turn an organic waste stream and biobased plastics into an energy resource, the Office of Energy Independence, University of Wisconsin – Platteville (UW-Platteville), and UL – EnvironmentSM (UL-E) an Underwriters Laboratories Company, have joined forces to conduct the first pilot study in the nation to test anaerobic digestion of bioplastics as a co-feedstock.
“When perishable foods, such as meat or dairy items, reach the end of their shelf-life, the store must remove the product for proper disposal to a landfill,” said Judy Ziewacz, Director for the Office of Energy Independence. “If successful, the food packaging and plastic industry would be able to turn a waste expense into a profitable energy generator.”
Annually, more than 830,000 tons of organic waste is sent to Wisconsin landfills. If this waste was diverted to a digester, it could potentially generate 5 megawatts of renewable energy to power 5,000 homes.
UW–Platteville, with scientific partner UL-E, will use an existing 4-stage digester built by Hanusa Renewable Energy to run the pilot study.
“The pilot scale digester is the only one of its kind in the nation that we are aware of,” said Tim Zauche, Chemistry and Engineering Physics Chair at UW-Platteville. “If we can determine bioplastic can be processed through the system, then the question becomes will it contribute to renewable gas production and a quicker return on investment.”
“Business owners are seeking innovation to lower their environmental footprint,” said Joe Mecca, Business Development Manage for UL-E. “This has great potential to reduce waste-to-landfill while producing renewable energy. We look forward to working with UW-Platteville to test the feasibility of this concept and setting guidelines for the marketplace.”
The study will be conducted at Pioneer Farm, located about 5 miles southeast of the city of Platteville. Pioneer Farm is a key component of the Wisconsin Agricultural Stewardship Initiative, a statewide
collaboration between producers, state government and the University of Wisconsin System to evaluate best management practices in Wisconsin and form policies based on practices that will enhance the environment and produce a profit for business.
For more information, visit the Office of Energy Independence www.energyindependence.wi.gov, UW–Platteville www.uwp.edu or UL-E www.ul.com.
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by jboullion | Dec 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, which for the past seven years has been the world’s best-selling book on permaculture, will be holding a workshop at the Center on Saturday, Jan. 29th from 1-5:00. Cost is $45 members/$55 nonmembers. To register: 414-964-8505. I am really excited to be able to offer this opportunity, please help me spread the word!
DETAILS:
Urban Permaculture For a Hopeful Future
Workshop Description: How can we create resilient, regenerative cities and suburbs? Permaculture, an ecological approach to design, shows us how. Though land may be limited, cities are rich in other resources, especially social capital. This workshop will show how to find, harvest, and integrate the many resources in our cities in sustainable ways, including getting access to land for gardening, creating business guilds and networks, working with local government and policy makers, learning the pattern language of the city, creating public space in neighborhoods, and building urban ecovillages. This workshop will offer specific techniques and strategies for food, energy, and community security in metropolitan areas. We’ll learn how permaculture’s principles and design methods apply to the challenging yet rich environments of our cities as well as the sprawling, car-requiring spaces in suburbia, and will provide ways to leverage the special opportunities that cities and suburbs provide.
Who he is: Toby Hemenway is the author of Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, which for the past seven years has been the world’s best-selling book on permaculture, a design approach based on ecology for creating sustainable landscapes, homes, communities, and workplaces. He is an adjunct professor in the School of Graduate Education at Portland State University, Scholar-in-Residence at Pacific University, and a biologist consultant for the Biomimicry Guild. He teaches, consults, and lectures on permaculture and ecological design throughout the US and other countries. His writing has appeared in magazines such as Natural Home, Whole Earth Review, and American Gardener. He and his wife divide their time between western Montana and northern Arizona.
His website: http://patternliteracy.com
by jboullion | Dec 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
From Erik Lindberg:
What: Basic Energy Literacy (and Numeracy)
When: Jan 22nd, 10:30 to 12:30
Where: Urban Ecology Center
I have been given the honor of teaching a basic energy literacy and numeracy class at the urban ecology center this January.
The class will cover all the basic energy information and assessment tools that inform Transition. We will talk about Peak Oil, current American and world-wide energy usage, world-wide fossil fuel reserves, the capacity of alternative energy to replace fossil fuels, energy and the economyh, and our energy prospects for the future.
After the class you will also have the tools to asses government and advertising claims about their programs and products. When you hear of a new oil-field discovery, you will be able to assess how big it really is. When someone announces a 1000 megawatt solar installationi, you will know how much power that produces. When you hear someone chant, “drill, baby, drill,” you will understand what they can actually hope to find.
I hope to see many of you there!
