Reporter bumps into Peak-Oil-Man for man-on-the-street interview

Thursday, May 24, 2007

The interview posted on Whiskey & Gunpowder dispells current conventional "wisdom" on the cost of gasoline:

PEOPLE MAY COMPLAIN about the rising price of gasoline, but there was no lack of drivers or gasoline-fueled automobiles in downtown Pittsburgh yesterday. The place was jammed and every parking lot had the “Full -- Leases Only” sign at the entrance. And here begins the tale. . . .

". . . in the past decade, refinery upgrades and expansions in the U.S. have added the equivalent of 10 ‘new’ refineries to the total base, and there is something like the equivalent of eight more refineries being ‘built’ via upgrades to existing facilities. This is why U.S. refinery output is at a record high. . . .”

The reporter knew by now that he was talking about oil and refined product with someone who knows something about the business. He paused and thought for a moment. Then he asked, “So why is the price of gas rising?”

“The price of gas is rising,” said the Peak Oil correspondent, “because there are more people buying it than there are selling it. And there will be, for the rest of your life.”

Thus ended a random interview with a man in the street.

Until we meet again…
Byron W. King

Wisconsin public transit options lacking

From a story by Vikki Kratz on Isthmus' Daily Page:

If you need to get from Green Bay to Madison via public transportation, your only option is to take an Indian Trails bus to Milwaukee (with stops in Manitowoc and Sheboygan), then transfer to a Greyhound bus that goes from Milwaukee to Madison. All told, the trip takes between six to eight hours, including a two-hour layover in Milwaukee.

Back when I lived in Green Bay, sans car, I made that trip a couple of times. It sucked. Particularly because I had just moved to Wisconsin from Washington, D.C., where I had been spoiled by the delightful fact that you could hop an Amtrak train and be in New York City in less than three hours.

Wisconsin has a lousy public transportation system. . . .

Some economics on wood as fuel

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

From Simon Robinson's Big Biofuels Blog:

I've come across some economics about using wood biomas as energy on a US forest products document. The document by the USDA's Forest Products Laboratories pretty pro wood, but that said, the economics of using wood to generate energy seem to show that the cost of producing 1m British Thermal Units (BTU) of heat was about $2.50 in Wisconsin in 2003 compared with $24.90 for electricity.

Fast track to war?

From Hans Noeldner on an article by Tamira Madsen in The Capital Times:

Please contact the Cap Times regarding an obnoxious article they just ran - Fast Track to the Fast Lane. The story is about a ten year old who is learning to amuse himself by driving in circles at top speed in fuel-guzzling half-scale NASCAR racers. In truth his behavior is no more reprehensible or oblivious to the predicament of Earth than that of millions of nominal adults who play with fossil-
fueled toys, but it is especially galling to see it glorified in a "progressive" newspaper.

WE CANNOT BE AGAINST WARS FOR OIL WHILE ACCEPTING SUCH NONESENSE. We cannot fight Bush and corporate ownership of government with one hand behind our back - a hand that is shovelling billions of dollars to Cheney's chums as it frantically pumps gasoline into the thousand-and-one gadgets that comprise our addiction.

My letter to the editor follows - I hope it inspires you to act!

Dear Editor:

"Fast Track to the Fast Lane"? Fast Track Towards Addiction to Oil and Motor Vehicles would have been a more appropriate name for this article. And "...need for speed"? Give me a break! What planet Earth, the future of humanity, and US Armed Forces "need" is for YOU and ME to learn how to amuse ourselves without gasoline. God help our heirs if we-the-people can't manage to find recreation that
doesn't WreckCreation!

Yesterday evening at the Memorial Union, John Nichols gave a splendid speech on impeaching the Bush administration and withdrawing from Iraq. Meanwhile everybody with a functioning brain now realizes that this "occupation" is all about controlling access to Mideast and Central Asian oil supplies. But when it comes to stopping profligate consumption RIGHT HERE, the Cap Times puts on blinders. Can't you folks connect the dots?

WAKE UP! Not only do we need to impeach Bush & Co., we-the-people need to start BEHAVING like we oppose wars for oil. That means cobwebs on gasoline pump handles, folks - no waiting, no excuses.

It's time for little Morgan - and millions of nominal adults - to find nice ways to play.

URGENT: Act NOW on KRM Commuter Rail

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

From the Sierra Club:

Your e-mail, call, fax, or letter is very important by Wednesday, May 23

WI State Budget is the key to Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Commuter Rail (KRM) success.

This is it—the moment in the state budget that we have been waiting for. The powerful Joint Finance Committee will begin discussing transportation issues next week. It is important that they vote to approve a local funding source for KRM–the $13 rental fee increase. It is critical that the KRM local funding proposal gets approved in the budget soon in order to submit the federal funding and project approval application within the federal timeline in June (see below for background information). If the Joint Finance Committee successfully passes the rental car fee, the KRM will have moved from a “project status” to “this may actually happen” status.

Please contact the following 3 Joint Finance Committee members and tell them:

1. Why KRM is a priority for you. (Pick one of your own, or see key benefits below, and commentary attached)

2. To please support the $13 rental car fee increase to support local operating and capital costs of KRM

3. If a local funding source is not included in the budget now, KRM's viability will be in serious question.

Senator Russ Decker
State Capitol
Room 122 South
P.O. Box 7882
Madison, WI 53707-7882
608.266.2502
Sen.decker@legis.wisconsin.gov

Senator Lena Taylor
State Capitol
Room 415 South
P.O. Box 7882
Madison, WI 53707-7882
608.266.5810
Sen.taylor@legis.wisconsin.gov

Senator Alberta Darling
State Capitol
131 South
P.O. Box 7882
Madison, WI 53707-7882
608.266.5830
Sen.darling@legis.wisconsin.gov

Click here for more information. http://www.transitnow.org/quick_points.html

Tips for Hybrid-Electric Driving

Monday, May 21, 2007

From John Frantz, RENEW board member, physician, and member of the National Association of Science Writers:

The first tip for getting good gas mileage applies to all vehicles: slow down gradually in anticipation of stopping to minimize the use of the brakes—any heat produced in the brakes is wasted energy. The friction of engine braking, as in down-shifting for steep downhill runs, is also wasted energy, but the brakes are spared wear and overheating. . . .

Now to understand the most subtle point in achieving the very best fuel economy in hybrid vehicles: imagine traveling through rolling hills on cruise control driving one of these cars. The cruise control will maintain speed uphill with gasoline power; relatively little electric power will be used because maximum gasoline power is greater than maximum electric power. The result will be a nearly fully charged 200 volt battery at hilltops preventing recovery of a maximum amount of electrical energy on the downhill portions. This problem can be overcome by using more electrical energy on the uphill by permitting loss of speed as the top of the hill is approached (turn the cruise control off). One’s overall progress can be nearly normal by gradually speeding up on the downhill portions (if the speed limit permits). Remember, if electrical motor power is sufficient for any assigned task for the hybrid system, the gasoline engine will not be invoked. Rather exact monitoring of this procedure is possible by keeping the instantaneous gas mileage readout at or only slightly above the expected consumption (experience will soon be close enough). . . .

As you learn more by experience, I will appreciate hearing from you so I can add your new discoveries to these tips (after I test them out for myself).

John Frantz, NASW, April 26, 2007
john.frantz@monroeclinic.org

You can read the complete article at www.frantzmd.info.

Top 12 list of the least dirty automobiles

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Cnet.com highlights the 12 greenest automobiles:

It's green month here at CNET Car Tech. That means a focus on alternative-fuel vehicles and emissions-reducing technologies, as well as a peek at how the automotive world will look in the post-petroleum age. Here in the present, a number of car makers are already doing a pretty good job of making low-polluting, fuel-efficient models. Each year, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) puts out its list of the 12 "greenest cars," taking into account tailpipe emissions, gas mileage, and curb weight. Here's our round-up of this year's least dirty dozen.

From the ACEEE:

Claiming the prize as the greenest model year 2007 vehicle is Honda's natural gas-powered Civic GX. The Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid, stalwarts on the annual "Greenest Vehicles" list, claim spots two and three, while the Nissan Altima Hybrid and Toyota Yaris, market newcomers for model year 2007, round out the top five. Others in the list include conventional and hybrid-electric vehicles from Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and Toyota. Domestic automakers were shut out of the top-twelve list.

The Electric Vehicle Company offers completely electric transportation.

Of course, walking and biking top the list of green transportation modes.

Aphorisms on energy

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

On these aphorisms, Hans Noeldner says, "Did "I" write them? Actually it would be more precise to say they sprang into my head this morning - unbidden and largely complete - as I steamed milk for my latte. Which is typical of many of "my" rantings."

The fact that most of us in the United States are waiting for external forces to suppress our unsustainable and seemingly insatiable levels of resource consumption tells us everything we need to know about the suitability of a consumer-oriented market economy for strategic long-range planning and proactive implementation of appropriate policy measures. It utterly astonishes me that we accept conversations of the sort, “Well, maybe people will conserve gas when prices go up,” and “Until the market starts to run out of oil it won’t signal investors to develop alternative energy technology.” Are these the deliberations of homo sapiens or the terminal generation of yeast cells in beer wort?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The term “demand destruction” has become quite popular in Peak Oil circles. It would be prudent to give “supply destruction” equal consideration - if not more. Why? Because the latter establishes a much better framework for a species which seeks comprehension of the long view. Roughly speaking, destruction of demand for a non-renewable resource does not manifest itself until a peak in extraction has occurred. Destruction of supply, however, begins as soon as the first barrel is pumped, as the first ton of ore is dug from Earth.

Open house at state's first vegetable oil recycling and distribution center

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

From the Coulee Region Bio-Fuels LLC:

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 – 10:00 AM

Coulee Region Bio-Fuels Collection and Distribution Center
509 4th St., Blair, Wisconsin
(At the intersection of Highways 53 and 95)

The landmark Coulee Region Biofuels Recycling and Distribution Center in Blair, Wisconsin will hold an Open House and Product Demonstration on Wednesday, May 23, 2007. This open house will reveal a collaboration of three of the region’s leaders in biofuel technology. Taavi McMahon and David Dudley of the PrairieFire Biofuels Co-op and John Feyen of Arcade Pumping have formed an LLC named Coulee Region Biofuels. Matt Fisher, Project Manager at INOV8 International, has been instrumental in the development of the project because of INOV8’s role as a leader in alternate fuels combustion technology.

John Feyen of Coulee Region Bio-Fuels is pleased to show the Coulee Region this new facility that will have the ability to collect, recycle and distribute an environmentally friendly alternate fuel source for businesses in the Coulee Region. . . .

Get more information from:

Matthew Fisher
Matt.INOV8@centurytel.net

Amy Gehrke
Amy.gehrke@gmail.com

It's NOT worth the drive

Hans Noelder recounts his "worthy" drive:

18 April 2007 - Last night at an environmental lecture in Madison I met a sincere young man who is very concerned about global warming and “peak oil”. Although he opposes expansions in electrical transmission lines, he thinks improvements to the Verona Road/Beltline interchange are needed to reduce congestion. No doubt his contrasting attitudes toward highlines versus highways can be explained in part by his 40+40 mile commute to & from work every day via car. “It’s worth the drive” to take advantage of lower housing prices in one of Madison’s bedroom suburbs.

Today a couple at the preschool about 1/2 mile from my house told me that for four years they have been chauffeuring their children to the Village of Oregon from their city about 14 miles away. I asked why they did not take their kids to a nearby preschool. They replied they were not satisfied with the quality – “It’s worth the drive” to bring them here.

This weekend my sister and I will drive a total of 360 miles to visit our 90-year-old dad at his assisted living center. In the process we will generate approximately 257 pounds of CO2. Our presence on local, State, and Federal highways will confirm assertions from local, State, and Federal officials that these highways must be maintained and expanded to “meet demand”. We will say, “It’s worth the drive” to see our Dad.

But clearly all of our driving in the United States IS NOT “worth the drive”! The overwhelming consensus among climate scientists is that climate change is real; that mankind is causing it; that current trends will make Earth a far less habitable Habit for Humanity; and that automobiles are a leading emitter of greenhouse gasses.

So if we are truly serious about climate change – and wars for oil, for that matter – we must begin to DENY ourselves these “worthy” drives. Where to begin? Densifying our communities, establishing mass transportation, and reconfiguring our lifestyles to match will take time, but meanwhile we can start with entirely discretionary travel – i.e. for recreation, amusement, and extracurricular activities.

“It’s NOT worth the drive to go up north to relax and play. Let’s find things to do nearby instead – activities that don’t take any gasoline!”

“It’s NOT worth the drive to go to a restaurant somewhere else. Let’s WALK to one of our local eateries – and visit with neighbors out for a stroll on our way!”

“It’s NOT worth the drive for our son to drive to high school; he can walk or bike or take the bus – and that includes extracurricular activities too. Living in the country has consequences, and because we chose a house here, we’ll help him to find creative activities here as well. Let’s start by setting an example ourselves!”

If we forgo the discretionary motoring, then maybe planet Earth can “afford” our occasional drives to visit Dad. Even better, after we’ve convinced our political leaders to REALLY support public transit, let’s get on board instead!

Gasoline Picture Looking Grim for Dog Days of Summer

Monday, May 14, 2007

More than a month ago, RENEW's Michael Vickerman foresaw the problems in gasoline supplies. In the Peak Oil Review, a weekly bulletin of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil-USA (ASPO-USA), an independent investment banker and oil analyst Matthew Simmons confirms Vickerman's conderns:

Commentary
by Matthew R. Simmons

Here is a quick run down on the possible disaster we face this summer as we head into Memorial Day with the lowest beginning-of-driving-season stocks in US history. It would have been convenient had someone found out exactly what Minimum Operating Levels* really have become. I suspect we will answer this riddle this summer.

Minimum Operating Levels of petroleum inventories are when all cushions have been used up and the system is now starting to “rob Peter to pay Paul." At this stage, the risk of shortages starting to crop up is Red Alert. Sadly, the last serious study of where this invisible line of minimum stocks is was a NPC study done in 1988.

The reality of gasoline demand is that it will rise during July and August unless we have some roads blocked off to stem demand. Rising late-summer demand has happened almost every year, even as prices rose from $1/gallon to over $3!

To supply this market, several things have to work in unison.

1. Refineries need to crank up to over 16 million b/d instead of current 15 as they struggle to get into compliance from too little maintenance for too long.

2. Imports need to average well over 1 million b/d, and probably need to hit 1.5 million b/d, matching the all-time record set last year.

3. No hurricanes can hit the Gulf producing region.

4. Stock draws are the last plug in the dike.

From the looks of things as we view Memorial Day weekend starting in just over a week, we fail on all four counts.

The burning question is how much lower stocks can drop before shortages sweep our fragile gasoline supply system. Historically, it has been critically important that we build up gasoline stocks during the spring shoulder season (April-May) so that they can be liquidated during peak demand to prevent shortages. We seem to have run out the clock to fix the problem this summer.

I did some quick inventory numbers this morning [May 10]. At the end of February which is the latest data we have on the location within five PAD districts) we had 116 million barrels of finished product and 99 million barrels of blending stocks (that are now far trickier to blend than when we had RFG) in inventory.

In the course of the next 10 weeks to May 4, we dropped 13.5 million barrels of finished stock and 10.3 million barrels of blending components.

But almost all of the drop probably came from Bulk Terminals as stocks at refineries are essentially works in process and stocks in pipelines and barges are steady flows.

If this is the case, bulk terminal drops were 30% for blending components and 27% for finished products. The painful last 13 weeks ran out our USA gasoline clock. We must be right at the edge of genuine "minimum operating supplies" in at least a handful of states.

I am certainly glad I drive a diesel where the stock pool or inventory is tight but not nearly as tight as MOGAS [motor gasoline].

This could get really ugly real fast.

On that cheery note.... Matthew R. Simmons is founder and currently Chairman of Simmons & Company International, an independent investment bank specializing in the entire spectrum of the energy industry.

*Editor’s note: A description of this Minimum Operating level clipped from an EIA publication follows. “…maintaining minimum operating levels (e.g., gasoline must be present in the pipeline at all times to push product further through the pipe. When actual inventories drop below minimum operating levels, the system effectively may be running on empty. EIA reported that PADD II inventory levels in May and June 2000 were at or near minimum operating levels.

Another Editor's note: Commentaries do not necessarily represent ASPO-USA's positions; they are personal statements and observations by informed commentators.

Personal responsibility

Hans Noeldner provides a Conservation Conversation:

(ring) (ring) Hello?…

…Hey John! Ya, it’s me…

…Yup, we’re OK. Say, did you hear what happened to Deb? She was backing her little Subaru out of a diagonal parking stall downtown by the bowling alley. Huge 4WD pickup truck on either side, she couldn’t see a darn thing…

…Ya I know, here in Oregon Wisconsin, a real man has to drive a three ton pickup to get a few beers, and if he really wants to impress his friends it had better have dual wheels…

…Uh huh. Anyway, Deb was backing out and this guy in an Escalade bangs into her – believe it or not he was actually pulling into the stall! Didn’t even know she was there…

…Just a tail light and crumpled rear quarter panel. Oh, and Deb is OK. No thanks to that moron!…

…Ya, white Cadillac Escalade SUV, huge thing, ’FUN TOY’ plates…

…Ya, you’re right! Billy Fourwheeler is his name…

…Yes, he’ll drive even when he’s going only two or three blocks…

…I’ll say he’s a lazy jerk!…

…No, other than being pretty overweight, there’s no reason why he couldn’t walk or something…

…Aha! So it makes you mad too…

…What to do? Well I say “The Market” should make guys like him knock off driving such gas hogs!…

…Fine, I don’t know, but we’ll run out sooner or later, the Earth ain’t made of oil…

…Hmmm – you’re right, global warming might get us first. Let’s hope gas prices go up a lot sooner than that…

…Whatever it takes to get Billy’s attention, damnit!…

…Well there’s that problem - high gas prices are gonna hurt low-income people the most…

…Ok, you have a better idea…

…Yes, John, I agree. Congress should tax carbon emissions…

…You bet! That would wake up our friend Mr. Bozo!…

…Ya, who ever knows about Congress. Let’s cross our fingers and hope they get their butts in gear…

…And I say the EPA should increase mileage standards, get rid of the ridiculous loopholes for SUVs and pickup trucks…

…No, not the pigmobile Billy has now, but at least he wouldn’t buy another one!…

…What? Me say something to his face?…

…Yes I’ve talked with him, I’m pretty sure he knows who I am…

…You want ME to tell guys like Billy to change? Why is it my job?…

…Hey, it’s a free country, people are free to drive whatever they want. Besides, if I tell him he shouldn’t be driving a huge SUV, he’ll nail me for driving up to northern Wisconsin every other weekend…

…Yes, I have a Camry, but given how much I drive, I probably actually burn more gas than he does…

…Ah! NOW you see! If I get on HIS case, he’ll criticize ME, and where will THAT get us? Pissing contest with a…

…Uh huh, government should take care of it, make people do the right thing…

…Ya, for me to say something, well that’s personal. Changing other folks ain’t none of our business…

…This weekend? Think I’ll tool up to Door County and do some hiking. Love it up there, go whenever I can…

…Ya, the traffic sucks and it’s a long drive…

…Well, traffic is traffic, you just live with it. By the way, the following weekend Deb and I are driving up to Minneapolis for the big Global Warming protest rally…

…You’ve been thinking of going too? COOL! Wanna carpool?…

…Really, it wouldn’t be a problem for us, it’s hardly out of the way…

…OK, it’s always handy to have your own car, then you aren’t tied to someone else’s schedule…

…Uh huh, I gotta go too. Maybe see you in Minneapolis at the rally!

Bye.

Rising Fears of an Ethanol Bust

Thursday, May 10, 2007

From an article by Moira Herbst on the Web site of Business Week:

President George W. Bush's January, 2006, declaration that the U.S. is "addicted to oil" marked the beginning of a gold rush for corn growers: The government policies the comment helped spur have been a boon for the producers of corn-based ethanol, the all-American fuel that now displaces about 4% of U.S. gasoline supply. Over the past 18 months, farmers have rushed to plant more corn—and are set to produce a record crop this year—while small-time entrepreneurs and agricultural giants alike have built plants to expand capacity. A handful of initial public offerings have fed investors' desire to get in on the action.

But while farmers and producers remain bullish on corn ethanol's prospects, a once-enthusiastic Wall Street is growing skeptical. On May 1, the largest U.S. ethanol producer, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), reported quarterly earnings that fell short of analyst expectations, citing higher corn costs as a problem. ADM shares tumbled 5.4% that day to close at $36.60 as investor disappointment spread throughout the sector. Shares of U.S. Bioenergy (USBE), Pacific Ethanol (PEIX), Andersons (ANDE), Aventine Renewable Energy (AVR), and VeraSun Energy (VSE) dipped 1% to 2%.

Lurking behind ADM's gloomy news are doubts about the future of corn ethanol. A growing number of analysts, once bullish on the product, are warning that an oversupply may be coming as soon as this year. On Apr. 27, a Lehman Brothers (LEH) report projected that production will outstrip demand in the second half of 2007, measuring the domestic thirst for corn ethanol at 420,000 barrels per day but supply at 445,000 barrels a day, mainly because the U.S. lacks the infrastructure to move the product to market.

Local utility touts plug-in hybrids

From a story by Mike Ivey in The Capital Times:

Wisconsin Public Power Inc. on Wednesday rolled out a converted Toyota Prius that can be plugged into a standard 120-volt outlet and recharged overnight at home.

This Toyota Prius has been converted to run on both a traditional hybrid gasoline engine and a rechargeable electic battery.
The plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, or PHEV, can travel up to 30 miles on a charge. Once the lithium-ion battery runs down, the regular hybrid system kicks into operation.

As a result, the PHEV can get up to 100 miles on a gallon of gasoline. It costs about 80 cents based on current electric rates to recharge for a 30-mile trip.

Get more details from WPPI's Web site.

RENEW urges budget panel support for energy initiatives

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

RENEW Wisconsin joined with the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, Apollo Alliance, WISPIRG, Clean Wisconsin, and the Sierra Club in expressing its support to the Joint Committee on Finance for Governor Doyle's budget proposal on renewable energy grants:

Wisconsin’s energy mix is currently very heavily weighted towards oil, coal, and nuclear power, which is not only harmful to our environment, but sends $12 billion annually out-of state and overseas to fuel our energy needs. Additionally, impacts from global warming threaten Wisconsin’s way of life. Cutting-edge, clean energy technologies will fuel the twenty-first century. We must ensure that our tax dollars go to the projects and programs that protect our natural resources, leverage our economic opportunities to the best advantage, and ensure that local communities and Wisconsin businesses and institutions benefit from our tremendous goal of making Wisconsin energy independent. To make the best use of this money the Department of Commerce should be left to decide where to fund projects based on the following considerations:

1. Encouraging the use of products in which Wisconsin has a competitive advantage,
2. Technologies that reduce global warming emissions and maintain or improve air, water, and soil quality, and
3. Some form of job quality standards ensuring we're capturing the good jobs of the future.

Charter St. plant must go

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

An editorial from The Capital Times:

The state of Wisconsin and its flagship university -- UW-Madison -- ought to be in the forefront in meeting at least the spirit of the nation's Clean Air Act.

Instead, according to a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club last week, greenhouse gas emissions in Wisconsin have increased 26 percent during the 1990s while the national average has been 20 percent.

Part of the reason is that 70 percent of the electricity we use is generated by coal-fired power plants and even more are slated to come on line within the next few years, which will only add to the problem.

Further, right here in Madison, the UW and the state's Department of Administration jointly operate one of the oldest and worst polluting plants -- the more than 50-year-old coal-fired Charter Street plant just south of campus.

The Sierra Club, after working for more than a year to get the state and the UW to close the plant and pointing out that the new gas-fired "cogen" plant on the west end of campus can meet the needs of the UW, has now filed a lawsuit to have the UW and the state found in violation of the Clean Air Act.

That's a sad state of affairs. But we understand the Sierra Club's decision to take these governmental units to court. The Charter plant, after all, has been cited as one of Dane County's largest single sources of soot, smog, mercury, arsenic and global warming pollution, according to the suit.

While Madison Gas & Electric has agreed to either shut or convert the old Blount Street plant by 2011, the state and UW have continued to stonewall the Sierra Club. That's unacceptable, and the Sierra Club is well within its rights to proceed with a lawsuit.

Sierra Club files suit vs. aging UW coal plant

Monday, May 07, 2007

From an article by Mike Ivey in The Capital Times:

The aging Charter Street Power Plant in the heart of the UW-Madison campus has become a lightning rod for environmentalists looking to reduce the state's reliance on coal-burning and its growing global warming footprint.

Wisconsin's greenhouse gas emissions grew at a faster rate than the national average during the 1990s, jumping 26 percent compared to 20 percent nationally. About 70 percent of the state's electricity is generated by coal burning, with at least three new coal-fired power plants in the works here.

To address the pollution issue, the Sierra Club on Thursday filed a lawsuit accusing the university and state of violating the Federal Clean Air Act. The complaint maintains the UW repeatedly violated the law over the past decade as it patched and repaired the Charter Street facility.

Agrichar to reduce global warming?

From Kelpie Wilson, the environmental editor and writer for truthout:

Terrigal, New South Wales, Australia - As delegates met in Bangkok this week to debate climate change solutions contained in the IPCC's latest report, one technology not mentioned in the draft report was being closely examined at a conference in Australia in the beach town of Terrigal, just north of Sydney.

The first meeting of the International Agrichar Initiative convened about 100 scientists, policymakers, farmers and investors with the goal of birthing an entire new industry to produce a biofuel that goes beyond carbon neutral and is actually carbon negative. The industry could provide a "wedge" of carbon reduction amounting to a minimum of ten percent of world emissions and possibly much more.

Agrichar is the term not for the biomass fuel, but for what is left over after the energy is removed: a charcoal-based soil amendment. In simple terms, the agrichar process takes dry biomass of any kind and bakes it in a kiln to produce charcoal. The process is called pyrolysis. Various gases and bio-oils are driven off the material and collected to use in heat or power generation. The charcoal is buried in the ground, sequestering the carbon that the growing plants had pulled out of the atmosphere. The end result is increased soil fertility and an energy source with negative carbon emissions.

Continue reading here.

Green car?

Friday, May 04, 2007

Another insightful analysis from Hans Noeldner:

Development efforts at “green” car design studios like Aptera Motors
look very promising - especially in the all-important virtual-reality/venture-capital-raising realm. But take care! Wildly optimistic public expectations for "green" cars are severely impeding humanity's faltering steps towards creating a sustainable society. The species homo automobilicus would much rather wait for technological silver bullets than adopt lifestyle changes - especially as regards unlimited personal motorized mobility.

But transportation systems based on moving human beings one-at-a-time or two-at-a-time in sixteen foot, two-ton metal boxes is itself fatally flawed. Even 100% “green” cars live on 100% DEAD pavement – and we are rapidly suffocating Earth beneath highways, streets, and parking lots. The sooner we-the-people get over our obsessive-destructive love affair with the automobile, the better.

That said, should mankind manage to continue the project of civilization, greatly reduced levels of driving in far more modest and efficient vehicles will play a important transportation role. The issue is not whether we will continue to use cars, it is whether we will choose the degree of enlightened self-restraint that is essential for a sustainable balance. Regrettably, new tech automophilia seduces many into believing that behavioral restraints are unnecessary.

Everything becomes clear when promising vehicular advances are evaluated using the following "Green Car Checklist". Here is the scoring for “Aptera” – but note that the composite results differ little from scores for the “Prius” and “VW TDI New Beetle”.

YES - reduces direct CO2 emissions from vehicle
YES - reduces dependence on fossil fuels
YES - reduces material usage in vehicle
YES - less intimidating to non-motorists
??? - fewer deaths and injuries to non-motorists in accidents
(probably not if driven at >30 MPH)
NO - reduces obesity by increasing physical activity
NO - fosters infill and compact development
NO - fosters walking and bicycling
NO - fosters use of public transportation
NO - reduces demand for Earth-suffocating roadways
(unless lanes could be made much narrower)
NO - reduces demand for Earth-suffocating parking
(unless TWO or more will fit in ONE conventional parking stall)
NO - reduces destruction of watersheds and aquifers
NO - reduces displacement of wildlife habitat
NO - reduces loss of farmlands
NO - increases civic interconnections via shared public spaces
NO - fosters local interdependence

Winner? Looser?

RESULTS: Very promising engineering step
Wrong focus for the automobile-addicted public

Hydro provision waters down state’s renewable policy

Thursday, May 03, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2007

MORE INFORMATION
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
608.255.40446
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

An amendment adopted by the legislature’s budget-writing committee immediately drew the ire of leading renewable energy groups in the state.

The action by the Joint Committee on Finance would allow utilities to purchase renewable energy credits from hydroelectric plants larger than 60 megawatts (MW). This would reduce the environmental and economic benefits to Wisconsin, while providing an economic windfall to energy generators outside of the state.

“Wisconsin doesn’t have a hydroelectric facility that would benefit from the elimination of the 60 MW ceiling. Those that could benefit are in Manitoba and beyond,” according to Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide group that promotes renewable energy.

“Swamping the renewable standard with imported electricity from existing hydro plants would reduce the development of new renewable generation in Wisconsin,” said Chris Deisinger, a spokesperson for the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“This measure exports wealth and denies Wisconsin's citizens and businesses opportunities to build sustainable energy enterprises,” he added.

The groups vowed to keep the pressure on the legislature and the governor to strip the “objectionable” provision from the budget bill.

Continue reading here.

The Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters also issued a statement, calling the action a "surprising and highly disappointing move."

UW-Madison dorm shows power of conservation

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

From a story by Nick Penzenstadler in The Badger Herald:

In an attempt to continue the University of Wisconsin’s efforts to reduce energy consumption, residence halls competed this month to conserve the most electricity and the winner was announced Monday.

The Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group helped organize the competition between 10 residence halls located near Lake Mendota. Adams Hall was declared the winner with an estimated 38-percent energy reduction over the 13-day competition.

“We focused on the little things because they don’t have a lot of control over other things in residence halls,” WISPIRG organizer Tony Uhl said. “Whether they leave their computer on all night can add up quickly.”

Fossil Fuel Watch: De-Fossilizing Ethanol

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Petroleum and Natural Gas Watch
by Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin
April 30, 2007, Vol. 6, Number 7

Discussions of the net energy balance of grain ethanol tend to gravitate toward the fossil fuels used for growing and shipping corn. Somewhat overlooked in the net energy return debate are the quantities of natural gas and electricity consumed at ethanol refineries, which are substantial.

An ethanol refinery that produces 50 million gallons a year burns about 50,000 therms of non-renewable natural gas a day for process heat. This is no trivial expense. Using today’s prices, a refinery operator would need to budget at least $15 million over the next 12 months to secure enough fuel to keep that plant running nearly every hour of the year. After corn, natural gas is the second-largest cost component of ethanol production.

That plant also exerts, on average, a 5 megawatt load on the electrical grid. The quantity of electricity consumed at that plant could support nearly 6,000 households in Madison, Wisconsin. About 75% of the electricity from Wisconsin’s power grid comes from coal combustion.

Whether the goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or enhance energy security, it makes little sense to pin our hopes on an agricultural commodity that has such an outsized appetite for fossil fuel-derived energy. When all is said and done, what this biofuel represents is the repackaging of stored energy (coal, petroleum and natural gas) into a land-intensive flow product (corn). Even though several months’ worth of sunshine goes into the production of corn, the amount of usable energy contained in ethanol is barely higher than would have been available from using the fossil energy directly.

Continue reading here.

Visitors tour zero-energy home

Monday, April 30, 2007

Standing between an evaculated tube solar water heater (rear) and photvoltaic panels (front) on the roof of his Madison home, Jeff Riggert (center) explains how the systems work to people who came to the open house sponsored by the Madison Peak Oil Group and the Association of Energy Service Professionals (AESP). Jeff serves as president of the local chapter of the AESP and actively participates in the peak oil group.

Jeff prepared a detailed description and economic analysis of the home's systems complete with additional photos.

See an earlier post with more about the house.

Kind introduces bill to promote biogas

From a story on Wisconsin Ag Connection:

Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind has introduced legislation that would take billions of gallons of fossil fuels out of use by developing renewable energy from animal waste. The bill would provide tax incentives and guaranteed loans for small businesses to promote biogas, which is a substitute for natural gas created by the anaerobic digestion of animal waste and other organic bi-products.

"By providing modest federal support for this technology, we can jump-start the development of renewable energy from what is now regarded as waste," Kind said. "I recognize that biogas is just one part of our larger course to energy independence, but its one that will invest in rural communities, protect our environment from harmful greenhouse gases, and grow our economy."

Update on progress toward Green Capital City

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Sherrie Gruder, chair of the Sustainable Design and Energy Committee provided an update on "what great progress the city of Madison has made toward becoming a Green Capital City since the Green Blueprint was approved unanimously by the city council February 1, 2005 and the Sustainble Design and Energy Committee first convened September 2005. The colorful, beautiful web version will be posted on the city website soon. And this doesn't capture everything. Together we have been making Earth Day every day for the City of Madison!"

Read Building A Green Capital City: A Blueprint for Madison's Sustainable Design and Energy Future.

A definitely different point of view

Friday, April 27, 2007

Watch Energy supply is more important than climate change on YouTube.

Small: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7L-R_a6rwk
Big: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfCPa0OrMV8

Investing in biomass fuels will pay off for Wisconsin

Thursday, April 26, 2007

From an editorial in the Appleton Post-Crescent:

Ask the average person what comes to mind when he or she hears the phrase, "alternative fuel sources," and you'll probably hear about solar power, and wind power, and maybe even hydroelectricity.

"Manure" probably won't pop up in the conversation.

But that needs to change, according to Wisconsin firm Better Environmental Solutions, which produced a report that highlights the abundance of biomass available for energy use in the state. . . .

Even if the results only alleviate our reliance on petroleum or coal and biomass ethanol doesn't become a booming export, it could still generate perhaps billions in in-state economic activity and free up resources to continue the state's reinvention.

Turn off the leaf blower

The following letter to the editor appears in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

In Barbara Miner's April 22 Crossroads article, she cited the World Resources Institute and wrote that "the average person in the United States currently is responsible for about 20 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year."

On that same Sunday morning, a friend and I were hitting tennis balls at some public courts in Whitefish Bay when a resident across the street started a gas powered leaf/grass blower. Not only was it a 15-minute assault on the senses, but it was obvious a broom or rake would have done the trick. This is one case where shrinking his "carbon footprint" would have also saved his neighbors from his noise pollution.

If we are going to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions 80% to 90% by 2050, we need to take a more serious look at our individual energy use. All of us can make small changes by carpooling at times, taking mass transportation and turning the thermostat down in the winter and up in the summer. Our lives might be better in the process.

Dave Dickinson
Shorewood

Contact Congress to support small wind tax credit

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

There are now two Small Wind Investment Tax Credit bills in Congress –one in the House (H.R. 1772), and one in the Senate (S. 673) – that would provide consumers a tax credit when purchasing small wind turbines for their homes, farms, or small businesses.

To become law, these bills must show a broad range of support from Members of Congress. Having your members of Congress add their names to these bills as co-sponsors is one of the best ways to build this support.

Ways you can help get co-sponsors:

1. Call or e-mail your Senators’ offices and urge them to co-sponsor Senate bill S. 673, the “Rural Wind Energy Development Act,” introduced by Senators Ken Salazar (D-CO) and Gordon Smith (R-OR).

2. Call or e-mail your Representative’s office and request that they co-sponsor House bill H.R. 1772 (identical to the Senate bill), introduced by Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Tom Cole (R-OK).

You can do this easily online at: http://capwiz.com/windenergy/home/

More information here.

Legislative Alert: Extend the Production Tax Credit

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Urge your Representative to cosponsor H.R.197 to extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC).

Take action here!

Please contact your Representative and ask him or her to cosponsor H.R. 197, a bill sponsored by Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) that would extend the PTC for an additional 5 years at its current full value.

The more cosponsors on a bill, the more momentum a bill has in passing through Congress. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has provided a sample letter for you to use when you contact your Representative.

The PTC is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2008. The bill, H.R. 197, would extend the PTC until December 31, 2013. AWEA continues to pursue a long-term extension of the PTC. A long-term extension is necessary for the industry to build a supply chain, ramp up production, and create more manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

Author of nation's toughest global warming law to speak April 25

The author of the nation's strongest global warming law tells us how California is responding to climate change and how she gained the political support to get it done ...

"Leading the Way on Climate Change"
a free public lecture by Fran Pavley

3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 25
Memorial Union (see "Today in the Union" for room)
800 Langdon Street
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Fran Pavley has served three terms in the California State Assembly, where she is known as one of the most effective legislators in Sacramento. The former Mayor of Agoura Hills and long-time public school teacher is the author of landmark legislation (the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006) on global warming that has become a model for other states and countries. She is also author of the first regulations on vehicle carbon dioxide emissions. Eleven other states and Canada have modeled their laws after Pavley's Clean Car Regulations. She has been selected as one of Scientific American's Top Technology Leaders in Transportation and received the 2006 California League of Conservation Voters' Global Warming Leadership Award along with former Vice President Al Gore.

This event is co-sponsored by the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UW-Madison. For more information, please contact Steve Pomplun at the Nelson Institute or call Steve at 263-3063.

Beyond corn: State's power future in prairie grass, cow manure

Monday, April 23, 2007

From a story by Mike Ivey in The Capital Times:

Making motor fuel from corn comes with a variety of problems, from the amount of energy it takes to produce ethanol to the impact on food prices.

But a report prepared today for a biofuels conference at Monona Terrace says other burnable material such as prairie grass, crop residue, papermaking waste or cow manure holds far greater promise for turning Wisconsin into an energy powerhouse.

Wisconsin has almost 15 million tons of potential excess "biomass" that could produce 1.3 billion gallons of ethanol per year, enough to displace half of the 2.6 billion gallons of gasoline consumed in the state last year, according to the report from Better Environmental Solutions.

If burned to produce electricity, this same amount of biomaterial could also replace about 15 million tons of coal, roughly 55 percent of the state's entire coal use, the report said.

Wisconsin joins Midwest group to boost bio-based fuels

Friday, April 20, 2007

According to a story by Lee Berquist in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Wisconsin and 11 other Farm Belt states have formed a consortium aimed at promoting greater use of bio-based fuels and products.

The leader of the North Central Bioeconomy Consortium for the first two years will be Wisconsin Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen.

The announcement will be made formally today in Madison at a biofuels conference, where officials will also say that the new group has received $100,000 from the Energy Foundation of San Francisco to underwrite the venture.

The intent of the group is to collaborate and share research in the emerging market.

Read the group's press release here.

Gasify biomass for energy

Thursday, April 19, 2007

From a column in The Capital Times by Margaret Krome, a member of the state Board of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

. . . there's an important technology that is sometimes overlooked in these discussions. Biomass gasification is an existing technology for capturing energy efficiencies that has immediate and profitable application. It has been used for years by industry to convert coal into natural gas, and it can be used to convert biomass crops just as well.

The state should encourage industries' use of biomass gasification from biomass crops to take advantage of this existing and environmentally sound technology now to help stabilize and build an agricultural market that can serve the state in the future.

Ultimately, our nation needs to learn how to conserve energy better. For many years to come, investments in energy conservation will far outstrip the payback from energy production. However, as we proceed down the path of agricultural energy production, it makes sense to create market incentives for farmers to produce biomass crops that are both environmentally optimal and profitable.

Polar Bears to stage “Die-In” at MG&E for Earth Day

For Immediate Release
April 19, 2007

Polar Bears to stage “Die-In” at Madison Gas & Electric for Earth Day

For more information, contact:
John Peck (608) 262-9036
jepeck@wisc.edu

Kate Moran (608) 287-1488
katemmoran@yahoo.com

Polar Bears, threatened with extinction by global warming, will stage a “Die-In” at Madison Gas and Electric’s Blount Street generating facility on Saturday, April 21.

The Polar Bear Die-In will be the finale of this year’s Earth Day Action that begins with a rally at Noon on the State Street steps of the Capitol. The brief rally will be followed by a march to MG&E where Madtown Liberty Players will stage the Die In to dramatize the plight of polar bears, indigenous peoples and the entire planet.

The rally will promote specific, concrete proposals in support of the following general demands: “No More Dirty Coal”, “Cap Wisconsin CO2 Emissions” and “Renewable Energy Now”. At Capitol rally, organizers will call on rally participants to actively support the Miller-Black Bill capping statewide CO2 levels at 1990 levels. At MG&E, we will announce the formation of a Citizen’s Commission on Dirty Coal to develop further work on stopping the use of dirty coal in our community.

The evidence of human caused global warming is overwhelming and there is no longer any real debate about the underlying science. Burning coal and other fossil fuels releases CO2 that is warming the atmosphere. A warmer atmosphere has resulted in less sea ice in the Artic. Polar bears use the ice as a way to hunt for seals that are a cornerstone of their diet. Without adequate ice cover, polar bears starve or drown trying to swim out to find ice on which to hunt.

Madtown Liberty Players is Madison’s own provocative, cutting-edge street theater performance troupe and a perennial favorite at similar events. Popular theater can play a powerful role in educating and entertaining our community and this performance will be no exception. Madtown Liberty Players’ March 17, 2007 performance entitled “Flushed Away!” can be viewed on line at http://madlibplayers.org/?q=node/427.

This Earth Day Action was organized by concerned citizens from fine community organizations including the Industrial Workers of the World, Four Lakes Green Party, Peak Oil/Climate Crisis Action Network, Peregrine Forum, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, Madison Infoshop and others.

Old-fashioned Bulbs No Good, Even For Heat

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

A letter from the Madison Peak Oil Group's own Ross DePaola appeared in The Capital Times on April 9:

Dear Editor: One of your readers argued that it wouldn't be a good idea to replace all our incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs because we live in a cold climate and would use the heat that is given off to heat our homes.

If your goal was to heat your home with electric heating, that wouldn't be a bad idea; however, we all know that electric heating is expensive, inefficient and creates more greenhouse gases. Burning coal to generate electricity for heating a home is equivalent to having about a 33 percent efficient furnace (67 percent goes to waste), while gas furnaces operate at 70 percent to 95 percent efficiency.

If that isn't enough, let's not forget that the bulbs will pay for themselves over a short period of time, the color the lamps give off is excellent compared to old fluorescents, and you'll replace bulbs much less often.

Ingenious and better than the original, compact fluorescent bulbs are an American idea and invention that we should be proud of.

Humbugs Along the Potomac

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Petroleum and Natural Gas Watch
by Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin
April 17, 2007, Vol. 6, Number 6

“Oh, no, my dear … I am a very good man. I’m just a very bad wizard.”
--The Wizard of Oz

In its latest staged display of bureaucratic omniscience, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last week that retail gasoline prices across the nation, which have jumped 25% since January, will peak at $2.87 a gallon next month and then recede before the vacation driving season begins in June. The average price motorists will see this summer will be $2.81, a bit less than what they paid in the previous two summers. EIA’s current forecast comes one month after its previous prediction that gasoline prices would level off this spring at $2.67 a gallon. (Gasoline prices at $2.83 a gallon are Sky High Again in La Crosse.)

The agency’s sunny blandishments may cause a few eyebrows to be raised among the millions of West Coast motorists already paying more than $3.00 a gallon at the pump. Then again, maybe not. With a track record for erroneous forecasting that verges on the spectacular, why should anyone bother to listen to EIA when more reliable predictions can be found on the daily astrology page?

Continue reading here.

Biofuels no panacea for state

From a column by Mike Ivey in The Capital Times:

. . . any claims about the Badger State becoming a "worldwide leader in the developing bio industry" must be taken with a grain of salt.

Overall, producers in the U.S. made nearly 5 billion gallons of ethanol last year, a 25 percent increase from the previous year. Nearly all of it was made from edible corn kernels.

Corn is a fundamental U.S. food ingredient, used in everything from soft drinks to pancake syrup. It's also a staple throughout Latin America, where soaring prices for tortillas has already sparked protests in Mexico.

Moreover, with farmers planting corn this spring at unprecedented rates to take advantage of rising commodity prices -- in some cases taking land out of conservation -- food costs will see more upward pressure.

In fact, national ethanol critic Lester Brown maintains the world is headed for a showdown over corn.

"The stage is now set for direct competition for grain between the 800 million people who own automobiles, and the world's 2 billion poorest people," he warns. "The risk is that millions of those on the lower rungs of the global economic ladder will start falling off as higher food prices drop their consumption below the survival level."

Because of those concerns, more observers are saying corn-based ethanol is already becoming an outdated technology. Scientists and a growing number of biotechnology companies are attempting to remove corn from the ethanol equation.

"There is enormous growth potential" for alternative fuels, says McKinsey & Co. analyst Jens Riese. "But we need to be smarter than just building the next corn ethanol plant."

For more information, check out Friday's conference "Sustaining the Wisconsin Landscape: Biofuels Challenges and Opportunities" at Monona Terrace. Details online or call 263-3063.

Why Switch to Switchgrass?

Monday, April 16, 2007

Wednesday, April 18th
12 noon – 1 pm
Wisconsin State Capitol
President’s Conference Room -Off the hall to the right of the Senate Chambers, 2nd Floor
From the State of the Union speech to ethanol production, many people are talking about using switchgrass, a native prairie grass, to make ethanol or replace coal. A recent US DOE study showed that switchgrass and other prairie grasses from Conservation Reserve Lands in Wisconsin could produce 3.447 million tons of biomass per year. This could produce 207 million gallons of fuel if converted to ethanol, about 1/12th of our gasoline consumption. It could replace 2.3 million tons of coal if burned, about 1/12th of our coal consumption.

This brown bag lunch will explore what switchgrass is and how we can use it to meet Wisconsin’s future energy needs, reduce air pollution, and create wildlife habitat.

Speakers:

Senator Kathleen Vinehout, Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and
Gary Radloff, Policy Director, DATCP, How switchgrass can help Wisconsin’s farmers.

Kim Zuhlke, Alliant Energy Vice President for New Generation, on Alliant’s Iowa switchgrass test burn and plans for Wisconsin.

Brett Hulsey, Better Environmental Solutions, How switchgrass can light our homes, run our cars, clean our air, restore critical habitat, and protect our streams.

For more information, call Ed Blume at 608-819-0748, eblume@renewwisconsin.org or Brett Hulsey, 608-238-6070, Brett@BetterEnvironmentalSolutions.Com.

Sponsored by RENEW Wisconsin and Better Environmental Solutions.

ConocoPhillips supports mandatory limits on green house gas

Friday, April 13, 2007

According to USA Today, "As recently as January, the head of ConocoPhillips opposed mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions." Apparently, ConocoPhillips has seen the carbon. From a press release on ConocoPhillips' Web site:

HOUSTON, April 11, 2007 --- ConocoPhillips [NYSE:COP] today announced its support for a mandatory national framework to address greenhouse gas emissions and has joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a business-environmental leadership group dedicated to the quick enactment of strong national legislation to require significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.

“We recognize that human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, is contributing to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that can lead to adverse changes in global climate,” said Jim Mulva, chairman and chief executive officer. “While we believe no one entity can alone address the environmental, economic and technological issues inherent in any solution, ConocoPhillips will show leadership in finding pragmatic and sustainable solutions.

Pale Blue Dot

Thursday, April 12, 2007

From Ross DePaola :

Carl Sagan puts it all in perspective: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M

Miller calls for legislative action on climate change

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

From an article by Craig Sauer in the Portage Daily Register:

MADISON -- State Sen. Mark Miller continued his call for the state Legislature to act locally on global climate change Tuesday, a day in which the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources held an informational hearing on the issue.

The committee, on which Miller sits, heard a presentation by University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Jonathan Foley, who said the need to alter global climate change was immediate. Foley, the Gaylord Nelson Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies at the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies, compared efforts to curtail climate change to turning an ocean liner -- meaning action must be taken well in advance to avoid catastrophe.

"Our efforts to reduce the human impact on our climate will take time, but failure to act appropriately and soon -- to turn the ocean liner around — could be disastrous," said Miller, D-Monona. His district includes southern Columbia County. "As a new grandparent, I do not want to have to tell my grandchildren years from now that we failed to act. When they ask, 'Grandpa, weren't you in the state Senate and in the position to make changes to protect our environment?' "

Last month Miller introduced Senate Bill 81, the Wisconsin Safe Climate Act, that would require Wisconsin to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels. Reducing greenhouse gases, Miller said, is a critical step in the fight against global climate change.

Small steps push cleaner, greener Green Bay

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

From a story by Paul Srubas in the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

None of the steps are huge or major, but the city of Green Bay is planning, through a series of little steps, to tiptoe its way to a more sustainable future.

Mayor Jim Schmitt on Monday called a news conference to announce that the city was embarking upon a 12-step program aimed at a cleaner environment and reduced energy consumption. . . .

But taken collectively, they can make a difference, especially if they inspire the city's residents and neighbors to join the efforts, Schmitt said. . . .

Jeff DeLaune of Wisconsin Public Service . . . led a subcommittee that looked into energy efficiency issues.

"This provides us a wonderful opportunity to develop a program that has positive impact on the environment and on the economy of Green Bay," DeLaune said.

His subcommittee developed a plan to promote the use of compact fluorescent light bulbs, a plan to power part of City Hall through alternative energy sources and to encourage better energy conservation by issuing annual awards for energy efficient design or improvements.

Compact Fluorescents Definitely Better

Monday, April 09, 2007

A letter to the editor of The Capital Times from John Reindl, recycling manager for Dane County:

In the past several weeks, there has been a controversy about the environmental impacts of using fluorescent bulbs, which contain mercury, vs. incandescents, which contain lead.

All fluorescents contain mercury, with compact fluorescents having about 5 milligrams. These bulbs are more energy-efficient than incandescents, and the reduction in energy consumption reduces the emission of mercury and other harmful substances from power plants.

According to fact sheets of the Federal Energy Star program and the Wisconsin Focus on Energy program, a typical compact fluorescent will reduce the emissions of mercury from power plants by 8 to 10 milligrams in comparison to the use of equivalent incandescents, which is more than the mercury contained in compact fluorescents.

All compact fluorescents should be recycled, but even if they weren't, they still reduce the amount of mercury emitted to the environment.

And, of course, using compact fluorescents also results in reductions in other emissions, including carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.

Dane County is fortunate to have nearly three dozen locations that accept these bulbs for recycling. While some recyclers have a nominal charge, it is minor compared to the estimated $30 or more that a consumer will save in electricity costs with a compact fluorescent.

These recycling locations can be found on the Dane County recycling Web page.

While most of the attention on the light bulb issue has focused on the toxicity of mercury in fluorescents, it should also be noted that incandescents contain significant quantities of lead - also a toxic material - in the solder on the base of the bulbs. These bulbs should also be recycled to protect the environment.

Small steps to living 'green'

Friday, April 06, 2007

From a story by Keith Ulhig in the Wausau Daily Herald:

Buy locally grown food. Ease away from a stop sign in a car, instead of jamming on the accelerator. Weather strip a home.

They're not exactly radical actions, but an environmentalist scheduled to speak next week at the University of Wisconsin Marathon County says that little things like these go a long way toward living a green life.

And, said environmentalist Steve Sandstrom, these steps can help people keep cash in their wallets, too.

"Green is also the color of money," said Sandstrom, an environmental education outreach coordinator for the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute of Northland College in Ashland.

Sandstrom, 56, and his wife own the Pinehurst Inn, a bed and breakfast just south of Bayfield, and they've operated it for years making environmentally sensitive choices. There are solar panels. There's locally grown food served on the tables. There is the use of nontoxic, biodegradable cleaners. There is the efficient furnace.

Urinetown begins in Madison April 20

Thursday, April 05, 2007

April 20 premiere thru May 4

UW Madison University Theatre Presents “Urinetown: The Musical” This impossible Broadway musical hit premieres in Madison. “Urinetown” is set in a dystrophic, drought-plagued future where city officials have come up with a unique way to conserve water: only public restrooms may be used, and people must pay for the privilege or be carted off to the ominous Urinetown.

Off-beat, yes; but it’s a Tony-winning satirical musical comedy with great songs, and it’s unique because it’s satire rooted in environmental ethics.

Mitchell Theatre, Vilas Hall, 7:30 p.m. Cost: $20 general; $14 UW-Madison students. Information: 262-1500, boxoffice@theatre.wisc.edu. Go to Isthmus to find more info.

Ethanol research looks at soybean

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

From an article by Nathan Leaf in the Wisconsin State Journal:

Over the past few years, ethanol plants have sprung up all over Wisconsin and much of the Midwest as the biofuel has been touted as the solution to America's energy woes. And so far, corn has been the undisputed king.

C5-6 Technologies of Middleton is working to change the landscape of the biofuel industry. It plans to do this with newly developed enzymes - proteins that catalyze chemical reactions - that will not only make production of corn ethanol more efficient but also expand the raw materials, or feedstocks, that can be used to create the fuel. . . .

Not only will the enzymes break down the [soybean] meal into ethanol, but they will create a valuable soy protein concentrate that can be used as a petroleum substitute in products such as adhesives and plastics.

"We could have a process that is by far the most profitable ethanol process out there," Biondi said.

Ethanol pros and cons debated

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

From an AP story by Arthur Max that ran in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Wisconsin State Journal:

Scientists weigh downside of palm oil
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- Only a few years ago, oil from palm trees was viewed as an ideal biofuel: a cheap, renewable alternative to petroleum that would fight global warming. Energy companies began converting generators and production soared.

Now, it's increasingly seen as an example of how well-meaning efforts to limit climate-changing carbon emissions may backfire.

Marcel Silvius, a climate expert at Wetlands International in the Netherlands, led a team that compared the benefits of palm oil to the ecological harm from destroying virgin Asian rain forests to develop lucrative new plantations.

His conclusion: "As a biofuel, it's a failure."

Letter to the editor to the Journal Sentinel on ethanol's pros:

Fuel's use has had a positive effect
The Journal Sentinel was dead on in pointing out in an editorial that ethanol and other renewable fuels are not the panacea for America's energy problems ("The limits of ethanol," March 26). But by focusing on the limits of ethanol, it ignored what homegrown renewable fuel is already doing to turn the tide of foreign oil dependence. America's ethanol industry is helping stem the flood of foreign oil into this country.

Ethanol today is rapidly becoming a ubiquitous part of America's motor fuel market. It is blended in 50% of the nation's gasoline and last year helped reduce foreign oil imports by more than 200 million barrels, or nearly 9 billion gallons. As important, the increase in U.S. demand for gasoline between 2005 and 2006 was met almost entirely by ethanol.

Without question, new technologies, better efficiencies and improved conservation must be the heart of the effort to break our oil addiction. But we must not lose sight of what renewable fuels like ethanol are already doing and the potential they hold for the future.

Bob Sather
Chippewa Falls

And a letter to the La Crosse Tribune on the cons:
Ethanol is not the answer
By John Klouda, La Crosse, Wis.

I’m struggling with Paul Peterson’s claims for ethanol in his letter published March 5.

Paul claims that if all cars in America burned gasoline with 10 percent ethanol (E-10), we would eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. I disagree. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2005 U.S. net petroleum imports was 4.58 billion barrels. Domestic petroleum production was 1.89 billion barrels, and petroleum consumption for transportation was 5.24 billion barrels. If we assume that all petroleum for transportation is gasoline (ignoring diesel), the blending of 10 percent ethanol yields a savings of only 0.52 billion barrels of oil. This does not wipe out the need for importing 4.58 billion barrels of petroleum.

Claiming that blending ethanol results in a 50 percent to 60 percent reduction in fossil fuel energy use doesn’t add up. According to Chevron, a gallon of regular gasoline contains 115,000 Btu of energy. A gallon of E-10 gasoline contains only 111,000 Btu.

So, for the energy equivalent of a gallon of regular gasoline, 1.04 gallons of E-10 is required. That 1.04 gallons of E-10 contains 0.93 gallons of regular gasoline. So, from an energy content standpoint, the use of E-10 yields only a 7 percent reduction in fossil fuel use, not 50 percent to 60 percent.

Claiming that ethanol- blended fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions 35 percent to 46 percent doesn’t wash either. Assuming that the ethanol part of E-10 produces no greenhouse gas emissions, it seems that greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by only 10 percent, not 35 percent to 46 percent.

Paul, give me some numbers to back up your claims.

Governor's plan to benefit paper waste ethanol

Monday, April 02, 2007

From a story by Andrew Hellpap in the Stevens Point Journal:

Wisconsin's push to develop corn-alternative ethanol shouldn't leave farmers out in the cold, according to one state official.

Gov. Jim Doyle's goal for the state to generate 25 percent of its power and transportation fuels from renewable sources by 2025 includes a proposal to create the first cellulosic ethanol plant in the United States by making available $5 million in grant money to paper producers such as Stora Enso North America, based in Wisconsin Rapids, according to a release by the governor's office in January.

Potentially, cellulosic ethanol can be produced cheaper than corn from black liquor, a byproduct of the pulp process generated at paper mills.

More profitable sources of feedstock could take away a buyer for corn from central Wisconsin farmers, but the depth of resources needed to accomplish Doyle's goal should keep corn-based ethanol supplying farmers happy for a while, said Rod Nilsestuen, Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection secretary.

"We are going to need all the sources we can get to reach those," he said.

While corn is still the main source of ethanol, its time to be profitable was about three years, according to the developer of a potential cellulosic ethanol plant in Wisconsin Rapids.

ProAmbulate inhibits driving

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Submitted by Hans Noeldner:

1 April 2009
Evanston, Illinois

A research scientist who helped to develop the birth control pill in the late 1950’s has now invented, in the winter years of his life, a new wonder medication that may do even more than the oral contraceptive to save planet Earth from humanity’s thoughtless excesses – in this case, from the ravages of overconsumption.

Leonard Nysteuen, a humble, unimposing 85-year-old former employee of G.D. Searle & Company, today announced the commencement of clinical trials for ProAmbulate, the first known example of an entirely new class of drugs known as “contramotives”. The double-blind tests, co-sponsored by the deficit-imperiled US Department of Transportation, will include 5,280 driving-age residents from four of the lowest-density, most automobile-dependent “country estate” neighborhoods in the United States, and 4,735 demographically-matched residents from five of the nation’s most pedestrian-oriented urban areas.

Nysteuen explains: “Think of ProAmbulate as the opposite of Dramamine. A mere 25 micrograms per day will stimulate strong nausea the moment a user slips behind the wheel (or handlebars) of a motor vehicle, whilst simultaneously “programming” the human brain to release pleasurable levels of endorphins when the user engages in walking, bicycling, and use of public transportation. For only 58 cents per day we will produce the kind of behavioral changes necessary to slash highway spending, halt sprawl, avert climate change, and overcome our cancerous twin addictions to oil and the automobile.”

For more information and a prospectus, visit www.ProAmbulate.com or consider the date when this was posted.

GAO recommends federal strategy for peak oil

Friday, March 30, 2007

The Government Accounting Office recently issued a report titled Crude Oil: Uncertainty about Future Oil Supply Makes It Important to Develop a Strategy for Addressing a Peak and Decline in Oil Production

The report notes that "Most studies estimate that oil production will peak sometime between now and 2040, although many of these projections cover a wide range of time, including two studies for which the range extends into the next century."

In assessing the federal government's effort to mitigate the effects of peak oil, the GOA report says:

Federal agency efforts that could reduce uncertainty about the timing of peak oil production or mitigate its consequences are spread across multiple agencies and generally are not focused explicitly on peak oil. For example, efforts that could be used to reduce uncertainty about the timing of a peak include USGS activities to estimate oil resources and DOE efforts to monitor current supply and demand conditions in global oil markets and to make future projections. Similarly, DOE, the Department of Transportation (DOT), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) all have programs and activities that oversee or promote alternative transportation technologies that could mitigate the consequences of apeak. However, officials of key agencies we spoke with acknowledge that their efforts—with the exception of some studies—are not specifically designed to address peak oil.

The study calls for a more focused effort from the federal government:

While the consequences of a peak would be felt globally, the United States, as the largest consumer of oil and one of the nations most heavily dependent on oil for transportation, may be particularly vulnerable. Therefore, to better prepare the United States for a peak and decline in oil production, we are recommending that the Secretary of Energy take the lead, in coordination with other relevant federal agencies, to establish a peak oil strategy. Such a strategy should include efforts to reduce uncertainty about the timing of a peak in oil production and provide timely advice to Congress about cost-effective measures to mitigate the potential consequences of a peak. In commenting on a draft of the report, the Departments of Energy and the Interior generally agreed with the report and recommendations.

Access an abstract and the full report here.

Mercury in Energy-Saving Bulbs Worries Scientists

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Planet Ark carries a story on mercury in compact florescent bulbs:

NEW YORK - There's an old joke about the number of people it takes to change a light bulb. But because the newer energy-efficient kinds contain tiny amounts of mercury, the hard part is getting rid of them when they burn out.

Mercury is poisonous, but it's also a necessary part of most compact fluorescent bulbs, the kind that environmentalists and some governments are pushing as a way to cut energy use.

With an estimated 150 million CFLs sold in the United States in 2006 and with Wal-Mart alone hoping to sell 100 million this year, some scientists and environmentalists are worried that most are ending up in garbage dumps.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Gina Duwe of the Janesville Gazette reports on the groundbreaking for the North Prairie biodiesel production facility:

EVANSVILLE-"Evansville loves this project."

Mayor Sandy Decker's words at Monday's groundbreaking for the $60 million biodiesel plant summed up a year of planning and fund-raising for the project.

While biofuel plants in cities as near as Milton have spawned lawsuits and filled city council meetings with angry residents, that hasn't been the case in Evansville.

"It is a perfect fit for our community," Decker said during a ceremony Monday near where the biodiesel plant will be built on the Evansville's east side.

Electranet to replace power grid?

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Al Gore ponders the future of electric power generation through small, diversified and renewable sources of energy:

Taking a page from the early development of ARPANET, which ultimately became the Internet, we will rely on new kinds of distribution networks for electricity and liquid fuels. We will be less dependent on large, centralized coal-generating plants and massive oil refineries. Societies of the future will rely on small, diversified and renewable sources of energy, ranging from windmills and solar photovoltaics to second-generation ethanol- and biodiesel-production facilities. Widely dispersed throughout the countryside, these streamlined facilities will make the industrialized world more secure and less dependent on unstable and threatening oil-producing nations. Off-grid applications of renewable power sources can provide energy for the 3 billion people now stuck in poverty.

WPPI on-track to fulfill renewable requirement six years early

Monday, March 26, 2007

For a media release issued by Wisconsin Public Power Incorporated:

More than 150 MW of wind and biomass projects currently underway

SUN PRAIRIE, WIS., March 26 – Wisconsin Public Power Inc. expects to be six years ahead of schedule in meeting the state of Wisconsin requirement that at least 10 percent of electricity purchased by retail customers in the state be supplied from renewable sources by 2015. Based on its current renewable energy portfolio expansion plans, the Sun Prairie, Wis.-based utility anticipates that it will exceed the 10-percent requirement in 2009.

“WPPI and its members have directed considerable funding and effort toward meeting and exceeding Wisconsin’s renewable energy requirement,” said Roy Thilly, president and CEO. “We are committed to providing a diverse, cost-effective and reliable power supply – one that includes clean, renewable energy and substantially increased conservation and efficiency programs – to our members and their customers.”

Ethanol fumes are affecting leaders’ brains

Friday, March 23, 2007

Without question, biomass for transportation fuels holds pros and cons. Alan Guebert, whose column runs in The Country Today, sees more minuses than pluses.

Everything ethanol touches seems to get giddy on either the grain alcohol’s future or its fumes. For example, early last winter several farm groups endorsed a controversial Congressional plan to open America’s outer continental shelf for energy exploration. What dog could groups like the National Corn Growers Association have in the hunt for Gulf of Mexico natural gas?

A big one: More exploration may lead to more natural gas. More natural gas may mean more and cheaper gas-based anhydrous ammonia, corn’s chief fertilizer. More and cheaper fertilizer means more corn and more corn means more ethanol. So, in the circular logic that drives much of the U.S. ethanol industry, more tax-break driven, environmentally- questionable coastal drilling for a natural, clean-burning fuel now will power additional production of a subsidized grain that then will be converted into another, heavier-subsidized fuel.

The legislation passed, and on Dec. 11, NCGA announced its members were “very happy with the legislative victories securing more domestic development of natural gas, continuing our positive push for better trade and extending significant tax incentives for the ever-growing ethanol industry.”

If that recipe — a “positive push for better trade and significant tax incentives” — appears at odds with free market policies promoted by groups like NCGA, keep in mind the Kool-Aid being mixed here includes ethanol. Indeed, the offshore drilling legislation backed by NCGA also extended America’s 54-cents-pergallon tariff on imported ethanol through Jan. 1, 2009, thus protecting domestic producers from cheaper, chiefly Brazilian, ethanol imports for another year.

America’s biggest ethanol backer, Pres. George W. Bush, however, had a hard time swallowing the extension. He wanted — and still wants — an unencumbered U.S. biofuel market. It was a point he again made clear in his March 9 meeting (at an ethanol plant near Sao Paulo) with Brazilian President Luiz Incacio Lula da Silva.

When reporters asked Pres. Lula da Silva if he was going to push the American to cut or eliminate the U.S. tariff on ethanol, Pres. Bush interrupted to say Pres. Lula da Silva, like him, was stuck with the tariff “through the end of my term. It’s not going to happen.’” It’s not going to happen now, but pressure is building for it to happen from three already-apparent directions.

First, even though ethanol is an economically strong 30-year-old, it remains an almost purely political baby. If Latin and South American nations need to export ethanol to create jobs, strengthen their economies and stave off anti-American leaders like Venezuela’s oil-rich populist Hugo Chavez, ethanol’s domestic protection will be dropped like a bad habit. Second, pressure is building within the U.S. to make changes.

On Dec. 18, Pres. Bush’s brother, then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, along with several prominent South American business and government officials, launched the Interamerican Ethanol Commission. The IEC’s mission is clear: make ethanol a global commodity and create a free, uninhibited international market for it. Pres. Bush, perhaps proving for the first time that ethanol, like blood, is thicker than water, took an enormous step in that direction March 9 with Brazil’s Pres. Lula da Silva when they agreed to share ethanol-making technology and expand its production across the hemisphere.

The third reason is Brazil itself. The nation that dealt U.S. farmers their biggest global trade defeat ever, the World Trade Organization’s ruling to kill U.S. cotton subsidies, possesses abundant land, cheap labor and a clear will to supply gas-guzzling American and European drivers with the fuel all believe is their birthright.

And like America drilling for more natural gas to make more ethanol, Brazil will burn its remaining rain forests to grow more sugar cane to make more ethanol to make it happen.

© 2007 ag comm
Alan Guebert’s Farm and Food File is published
weekly in more than 75 newspapers in
North America. He lives in Delavan, Ill., and may
be contacted at agcomm@sbcglobal.net.

Cow manure for furniture and flooring

Thursday, March 22, 2007

From an Associated Press article by David N. Goodman as it appeared in the York Dispatch (York County, Pennsylvania):

Under pressure from regulators and the public, more large livestock operations are installing expensive manure treatment systems known as anaerobic digesters.

The digesters use heat to deodorize and sterilize manure, while capturing and using the methane gas it produces to generate electricity. The systems also separate phosphorus-laden liquid fertilizer from semisolid plant residue.

The solids have some known uses, including animal bedding and potting soil, and agricultural scientists would like to find more.

"We really need to think outside the box on what uses for manure are," said Wendy Powers, a professor of agriculture at Michigan State University.

Scientists at Michigan State in East Lansing and at the USDA's Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wis., are conducting tests on various types of fiberboard made with the "digester solids."

'Better than wood': As with the wood-based original, the manure-based product is made by combining fibers with a chemical resin, then subjecting the mixture to heat and pressure.

So far, fiberboard made with digester solids seems to match or beat the quality of wood-based products.

"It appears that the fibers interlock with each other better than wood," said Charles Gould at Michigan State's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Associations issue biodiesel proposals

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

From a media release issued by the Wisconsin Soybean
Association and Wisconsin Biofuels Association:

Arlington, WI—At hearings across the state, Wisconsin farmers, biodiesel producers, high tech companies, and environmentalists will call on the Joint Finance Committee to expand state purchases of biodiesel, ensure quality standards, and testing. Members of these groups are holding a Biodiesel Information Workshop at 9 am before the hearing to be held in Arlington on Wednesday at the research station headquarters. . . .

In addition, the release included four key areas for legislative action:

1. Establish a uniform definition of biodiesel fuel and adopt fuel quality standards per ASTM D6751-07 to enhance quality assurance of the product and to
encourage statewide use. . . .

2. Establish a state regulatory program within the Department of Agriculture, Trade
and Consumer Protection (“DATCP”), and/or Department of Commerce
(“Commerce”) to ensure the quality of the biodiesel fuel product offered for retail
sale in the state. . . .

3. Establish tax incentives for wholesalers, retailers and bulk users (private fleets) of biodiesel that promote an expansion of biodiesel fuel consumption and
distribution network in Wisconsin. . . .

4. Establish that the Department of Administration, through its fleet management
policy, require all state agencies increase the use of biodiesel (B5 or higher) by
twenty percent (20%) by 2010 and by fifty percent (50%) by 2015.

For more information, contact David Crass, 608-283-2267, dacrass@michaelbest.com or
Brett Hulsey, 608-238-6070, Brett@BetterEnvironmentalSolutions.Com.

Poultry litter to fuel Minnesota power plant

Friday, March 16, 2007

In a story on RenewableEnergyAccess.com, Ted Olsen reports on a Minnesota project:

Biomass -- in this case in the form of hundreds of thousands of pounds of turkey litter with woodchips and sawdust blended in -- soon will be fueling a 55 megawatt [MW] power plant producing enough electricity to supply 50,000 homes in the Minnesota community of Benson.

"[The] facility will burn 700,000 tons of turkey litter per year and can operate on 100 percent litter but we'll also be using other biomass, including woodchips and sawdust." -- Terry Walmsley, Fibrominn, VP for environmental and public affairs

The first large-scale facility of its kind in the U.S., the plant is being completed in an industrial park on the edge of town by Fibrominn, whose parent company Fibrowatt already operates three litter-fueled facilities in the United Kingdom. The project, started in May 2005, is expected to begin operations in June.

Rural "Defenders"

Thursday, March 15, 2007

From the irrepressible Hans Noeldner:

Residents in the townships adjacent to metropolitan Madison are fond of proclaiming their determination to remain rural in character; they see themselves engaged in an epic struggle against annexation-obsessed cities and villages.

But it is delusional to think that such areas can REMAIN rural. Demographically, these townships can best be described as ultra-low-density suburbia; economically, ethnically, and racially segregated; and totally dependent on the private motor vehicle for movement. The townships themselves lack significant employment, retail, and services; and their residents are disproportionately dependent upon the motoring infrastructure for which they fail to pay anything approaching their fair share. Indeed, exurbanites have an essentially parasitical relationship with the rest of society; without nearby urban centers their way of life would collapse. The reverse is not true.

Very few exurbanites are conscious that their way of life presumes an open-ended entitlement to ever-expanding highways and abundant free parking at their every destination: such niceties are, like air, taken for granted. But the day is rapidly approaching when motor fuel (and the results of its combustion) shall be far too expensive for eight and twelve motor vehicle trips per household per day. Will exurbanites abandon their "rural” sleeping quarters, or take up the fork and hoe to become real country dwellers?

California: the energy miser?

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

From a story by Steven Mufson of The Washington Post as it appeared in the The Seattle Times:

. . .Since 1974, California has held its per-capita energy consumption essentially constant, while energy use per person for the United States overall has jumped 50 percent.

California has managed that feat through a mixture of mandates, regulations and high prices. The state has been able to cut greenhouse-gas emissions, keep utility companies happy and maintain economic growth. Now California is pushing further in its effort to cut automobile pollution, spur use of solar energy and cap greenhouse gases. . . .

Co-Dependency: The U.S., Russia, and energy security

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

A presentation by
David Knuti, U.S. Commercial Service (retired)
Tuesday, March 13, 7:00 PM
UW Menorial Union

Russia is the world’s second largest oil exporter and largest natural gas exporter. Although only a minor supplier to the U.S., Russia plays a vital role in U.S. energy security by maintaining the precarious balance of world energy supplies without shortages or punishing price increases. No country other than the U.S. is such an important producer, refiner, long distance transporter, and consumer of energy. It also a key factor as a transit country for the oil and gas of other countries. For better or worse, world energy security depends on Russia’s future performance in these roles.

David Knuti was involved in energy development issues as a Washington analyst and commercial diplomat for the CIA and Commerce Department for 15 years, and continues to study these issues in retirement.

For more information contact Ed Blume, eblume@renewwisconsin.org or 608.819.0748.

A Nosedive into the Desert

Monday, March 12, 2007

In a lengthy analysis on The Oil Drum, Stuart Staniford agures that "since late 2004, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has entered rapid decline of their oil production, at least for the time being."

Saudi production can be divided into two eras. In the first, prior to the third quarter of 2004, KSA had spare capacity and acted as the swing producer, making large voluntary changes in their production to stabilize the market. . . .

Since late 2004, KSA has entered a new era where they cannot raise production in response to demand side needs, and instead the major features of the production curve correspond to supply side events.