by jboullion | Nov 18, 2008 | Uncategorized
The Web site awkwardly called the Database for State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency hosts two useful fact sheets for any individual or business considering a renewable energy installation.
Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit covers these eligible renewable enrgies and technologies: Solar Water Heat, Photovoltaics, Wind, Fuel Cells, Geothermal Heat Pumps, Other Solar Electric Technologies
Business Energy Tax Credits covers these eligible renewable enrgies and technologies: Solar Water Heat, Solar Space Heat, Solar Thermal Electric, Solar Thermal Process Heat, Photovoltaics, Wind, Biomass, Geothermal Electric, Fuel Cells, Geothermal Heat Pumps, CHP/Cogeneration, Solar Hybrid Lighting, Direct Use Geothermal, Microturbines
by jboullion | Nov 18, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by Mike Ivey posted on The Capital Times:
Well, one thing about the global recession – it sure brought oil prices down.
Just a few months ago it seemed certain that gasoline was headed toward $5 a gallon. Now, it’s back below $2.50. If it falls much lower, maybe GM will consider reopening its monster truck factory in Janesville.
In all seriousness, however, you hope that cheaper gasoline doesn’t distract Americans from the challenge at hand of reducing dependence on foreign oil while curbing air pollution.
But if history shows us anything, consumers have short memories when it comes to anything related to their automobiles.
What the financial meltdown has done though is deal yet another blow to the beleaguered ethanol industry which was just starting to get a real toehold in Wisconsin before the bottom fell out.
Man, this state has got bad timing.
First it completely missed the IT revolution of the 1980s.
Then it largely missed out on the ethanol boom of the 1990s as neighboring states like Iowa and Minnesota jumped in big time.
Now, with Wall Street in turmoil, dollars for new biofuel ventures are even harder to come by.
In June, North Prairie Productions abandoned plans to build a $42 million biodiesel plant near Evansville in Rock County. It would have been the largest in the state, producing an estimated 45 million gallons of fuel annually.
And the story is being repeated across the Heartland.
In Missouri alone, more than a dozen ethanol and biodiesel companies sought state regulatory approval in 2006 to recruit investors for projects in South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. Two years later, as many companies have failed or stalled as have finished their projects, according to a recent Associated Press report.
But I’m not crying over the biofuel bust.
From the beginning, it was little more than a government subsidized boondoggle that only put money in the pockets of huge corn growers like Archer Daniels while diverting attention from producing more efficient vehicles or encouraging transportation alternatives.
Moreover, from an air pollution standpoint, corn-based ethanol now appears to be a serious net loser when it comes to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a major contributor to global warming.
by jboullion | Nov 17, 2008 | Uncategorized
A media release issued by Better Environmental Solutions:
Wisconsin Dells — After record floods, Better Environmental Solutions today released a Biomass Flood Reduction Buffer Plan to help farmers restore buffers in floodplains to reduce flooding, provide biomass for power plants, increase farm income and cleaner water. Brett Hulsey, President of Better Enviro presented the plan at the annual meeting of the Wisconsin Association of Floodplain, Stormwater and Coastal Managers annual conference, “Change…How Will We Respond?” in Wisconsin Dells.
“These annual floods are tragic and biomass buffers can reduce the risk to flood victims and farmers, reduce pollution, grow fuel for power plants, and reduce the risks of extreme climate change,” said Hulsey.
Biomass buffers can also help clean up our streams and drinking water, help increase farm income, reduce crop loss and crop insurance payments, and improve habitat for people, fish and wildlife. Farmers would plant biomass buffers of native grasses like switchgrass, fast-growing willows and/or poplars to replace crops that are flooded each year. These buffers would be managed to optimize for flood protection, water quality, and biomass production for power plants and cellulosic ethanol production.
“We know buffers provide wildlife habitat, clean our water and reduce flooding,” said Tom Thrall, former state biologist of the Natural Resource Conservation Service. “The good news is that utilities and the state can contract with farmers to convert these floodplains to biomass.”
The Better Enviro analysis shows that farmers can make more from Biomass Buffers at $50/ton than with $4/bushel corn production.“We know that buffers and conservation must pay farmers, or they won’t stay,” said Hulsey. “Wisconsin has lost a higher percentage of Conservation Reserve Program lands than any other Midwest states and biomass buffers may be our best chance to protect our streams and produce fuel.”
A 2007 Better Enviro report, Cellulose Prairie, showed that Wisconsin has enough biomass to displace half its coal use, while restoring critical prairie habitat and reducing flooding. Sixty percent of Wisconsin’s renewable energy comes from biomass and wood now, 10 times more than wind and solar combined.
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Better Environmental Solutions is an energy and environmental consulting firm. Hulsey was the first non-governmental person to win FEMA’s Distinguished Public Service Award for helping people recover from floods and restoring wetland to reduce flooding. He has authored numerous reports on flood prevention like “Permitting Disaster,” “Subsidizing Disaster,” “Red River Rampage” and “Wetland Restoration in Waiting.” For more on the Biomass Buffer proposal, go to www.BetterEnviro.Com
by jboullion | Nov 17, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an opinion piece in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Cooperation among transit authority board members should be lauded, but many obstacles remain in keeping regional transit on track in southeastern Wisconsin.
After a vote last week to resolve a funding issue for regional mass transit, members of the board of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transportation Authority broke into applause. It was well deserved.
On a 6-1 to vote, members representing the cities and counties of Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee (one from each city and county, plus one appointed by the governor) agreed to ask the Legislature for authority to levy a sales tax of up to 0.5% for mass transit, including a commuter rail line, in the three counties.
Considering the time and effort it took to get this far and the fact that people in the region often have difficulty agreeing on whether Lake Michigan is wet, that’s a significant accomplishment.
The board also asked the Legislature to turn the RTA into a permanent agency that would oversee all mass transit in the three counties, creating a coordinated regional mass transit system with seamless bus and commuter rail services. The RTA recommended that any transit sales tax replace property tax funding for public transit in Milwaukee, eastern Racine and Kenosha counties.
The assumption is that the sales tax would raise enough money to replace the property tax support for transit as well as to expand transit systems in Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee and to build and operate a new commuter train line, the KRM Commuter Link, connecting Milwaukee and its southern suburbs to Racine and Kenosha.
The agreement came with two major compromises. The first was to ask the Legislature to also authorize municipalities to enact up to an additional 0.15% sales tax for public safety purposes, again primarily to ease the property tax burden. The second was to exclude the part of Racine County that is west of I-94. Residents there apparently are not convinced that they would benefit from public transit.
We’re not particularly moved by either compromise. There is a good argument that public safety and protection of property are services that belong properly on the property tax. Furthermore, including an additional tax on top of the 0.5% transit tax may just confuse the issue for some legislators. As to western Racine County, we think it could benefit indirectly at first and perhaps directly later from mass transit services. Excluding it now is shortsighted.
by jboullion | Nov 17, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a post by on Ecomunicipality.com:
Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle’s Office of Energy Independence has received a good deal of support from folks in Polk County. Created by Governor Doyle on April 5, 2007 with the mission to advance energy independence in the State of Wisconsin, the goals of the OEI include:
1. Generating 25% of our state’s electricity and transportation fuels from renewable resources by 2025.
2. Capturing 10% of the emerging bioindustry and renewable energy market by 2030.
3. Leading the nation in groundbreaking research that will make renewable energy more affordable and will create good paying Wisconsin jobs.
Last February the Polk County Renewable Energy Committee invited OEI representatives to meet with local elected officials at the Paradise Landing restaurant in Balsam Lake. Secretary of Agriculture Rod Nilsestuen joined in addressing the large group that came to learn how state and local governments might work together to lessen our dependence on energy sources from outside Wisconsin.
by jboullion | Nov 17, 2008 | Uncategorized
Immediate release
November 17, 2008
More information
RENEW Wisconsin
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
Clean Wisconsin
Katie Nekola
608.251.7020, ext. 14
knekola@cleanwisconsin.org
Clean Energy Organizations Endorse Mishicot Wind Project
Representatives of Wisconsin’s leading sustainable energy organizations—Clean Wisconsin and RENEW Wisconsin–endorsed today a proposed seven-turbine windpower project currently under review by the Manitowoc County Board of Adjustment.
The project, proposed by Wisconsin-based Emerging Energies LLP, would be situated within the Town of Mishicot. The County’s Board of Adjustment is scheduled to deliberate further on Emerging Energies’ application at its next regularly scheduled meeting on November 17.
“We are impressed with many of the steps Emerging Energies is taking to spread the benefits of wind energy development to the host community, and especially to neighboring residents,” said RENEW Wisconsin Executive Director Michael Vickerman.
“Their Mishicot Wind Project has been a model of transparency and careful planning, right from the start.”
“The benefits from this project to Manitowoc County’s environment and economy are too great to ignore,” said Clean Wisconsin Energy Policy Director Katie Nekola. “The Mishicot Wind project deserves to be approved and built.”
Vickerman pointed to Emerging Energies’ commitment to incorporating industry “best practices” as another compelling reason why Manitowoc County should approve the project. Once the installation is energized, Emerging Energies plans to compensate neighboring residences within one-half mile of a wind turbine over the life of the project.
“RENEW commends Emerging Energies for volunteering to lead by example and abide by a set of development practices that we hope other developers will follow,” Vickerman said.
Blessed with some of the state’s strongest winds, Manitowoc County adopted a wind ordinance in 2004. Emerging Energies first proposed the Mishicot project in 2005. Progress since that time has been slowed by a countywide moratorium on wind development and the subsequent adoption of one of the most restrictive wind ordinances in Wisconsin.
“Emerging Energies has put together a stellar proposal that satisfies every reasonable public interest standard that can be applied to a wind project,” Nekola said. “The County has deliberated long enough on this matter. It deserves to be approved”
