Madison Peak Oil Group

Peak oil underlies preservation effort

Friday, October 20, 2006

The West Waubesa Preservation Coalition (WWPC) seeks to preserve 250 acres of farmland along the edge of Madison suburb Fitchburg.

The WWPC uses peak oil arguments as the primary reasons for saving the land and lays out the following tasks for itself:

Secure land for locally grown food. How will Madison and surrounding communities deal with food shortages caused by high fuel prices?

Teach people how to grow food without fossil fuel inputs. Many people will want and need to grow food themselves, yet have no experience in food production, especially without chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Create structures for people to grow, buy, and sell food locally. Most of the farmland in the area is growing corn and soybeans. We need to grow fruits, vegetables, and grains, and to raise animals for eggs, milk, and meat.

To reinforce the message and their effort, the WWPC will show "The End of Suburbia" in the Promega BTC Auditorium, 5445 E. Cheryl Pkwy, at 10:00 a.m. on November 11.

Payback Analysis: An Impediment to Sustainability

Thursday, October 19, 2006

From the most recent edition of Petroleum and Natural Gas Watch by Michael Vickerman:

To a traditional economist, one who boils life’s complexities down to income, outflows and the time value of money, our decision to install a solar domestic hot water system doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, principally because the return is tiny relative to the large up-front outlay.

But in reducing this transaction to simple, measurable flows of dollars in and dollars out, economists filter out a great deal of relevant information that might confound their notions of rational economic decision-making. Though economists will concede that there are other valid factors besides pure price considerations on which to base one’s purchasing or investment decisions, they aren’t likely to register meaningfully in the economic models they use. Instead, these factors are categorized—and marginalized—as “externalities”—a semantic purgatory designed to prevent these considerations from crimping corporate America’s style.

Read the full commentary at RENEW's News & Views.

Energy Robin Hood to speak, October 18

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Randy Udall sees himself as a modern-day Robin Hood of sorts, taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Udall heads the Community Office for Resource Efficiency in Aspen, Colorado, which oversees the world's stiffest tax on energy use. The tax, called "REMP" or Renewable Energy Mitigation Program, requires owners of new homes larger than 5,000 square feet to pay fees of up to $100,000 for excess energy use. -- The Osgood File, July 31, 2003

U.S. Energy Flow - In the Belly of the Beast

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Randy Udall, whose father (Morris) and uncle (Stewart) were conservation giants, will discuss America’s energy challenges at 7:00 p.m. on October 18, 2006, at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon Street, Madison.

Udall also writes prolifically and insightfully on energy issues and the coming end of cheap oil. From U.S. Energy Flow:

From a biological perspective, think of the U.S. economy as the largest “animal” the planet has ever seen—a living, breathing T. Rex Americus,whose energy appetite is gargantuan. If we dissect the beast to study the energy flows that sustain it, we end up with [a]chart, produced at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. . . .Our economy is not, metabolically speaking, a thrifty creature. About 55 percent of the energy that flows into the economy is ejected as T. Rex dung. This waste carries with it a huge pollution and climate burden.

Udall, who founded the Community Office for Resource Efficiency, will also speak at 8:30 a.m. on the same day at the Monona Terrace during the Sustainability Energy Efficiency conference of the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance.

Madison Peak Oil Group, RENEW Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and Wisconsin Green Building Alliance sponsor the evening event.

Links:
Community Office for Resource Efficiency – www.aspencore.org
Madison Peak Oil Group – www.madisonpeakoil-blog.blogspot.com
RENEW Wisconsin – www.renewwisconsin.org
Gaylord Nelson Institute - www.ies.wisc.edu
Wisconsin Green Building Alliance – www.wgba.org

When Will the Joyride End?

Monday, October 16, 2006

Randy Udall, whose father (Morris) and uncle (Stewart) were conservation giants, will discuss America’s energy challenges at 7:00 p.m. on October 18, 2006, at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon Street, Madison.

Udall also writes prolifically and insightfully on energy issues and the coming end of cheap oil. From When will the Joy Ride End?:

During the last century oil has transformed the world. British coal launched the Industrial Revolution, but American petroleum put the pedal to the metal. No other material has so profoundly changed the face of the world in such a short time. . . . Soon, experts say, world oil production will reach an all-time high, an apex, a peak. Then, after a short plateau, it will decline forever. What historians will someday call the Oil Era will last only about 250 years. In 2000 we are closer to the Era’s end than to its beginning.

He will also speak at 8:30 a.m. on the same day at the Monona Terrace during the Sustainability Energy Efficiency conference of the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance.

Madison Peak Oil Group, RENEW Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and Wisconsin Green Building Alliance sponsor the evening event.

Links:
Community Office for Resource Efficiency – www.aspencore.org
Madison Peak Oil Group – www.madisonpeakoil-blog.blogspot.com
RENEW Wisconsin – www.renewwisconsin.org
Gaylord Nelson Institute - www.ies.wisc.edu
Wisconsin Green Building Alliance – www.wgba.org

Minneapolis shows success of light rail

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Rob Zaleski reports in The Captial Times on Minneapolis' current light rail system and plans for the future:

If you've been to Minneapolis lately and ridden on its sleek, efficient Hiawatha light rail line, you probably understand why it continues to draw huge ridership. (One million passengers in August alone, according to city officials.)

Even skeptics who fought the 12-mile system — which began operating in 2004 and links downtown Minneapolis with the airport and the Mall of America — have been won over, locals say.

Now, Minnesota voters are contemplating an even bolder step to alleviate the gridlock that paralyzes rush-hour commuters in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. They will vote next month on a proposed constitutional amendment that would provide $100 million or more per year for a network of new rail lines, bus routes and park-and-ride lots that transit advocates believe could double ridership in the Twin Cities area by 2020.

Fitchburg-to-Madison bike trail won't get paved for 2 years

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

From an article by Maureen Backman in The Capital Times:

FITCHBURG - Due to minimal funding for bicycle projects in Wisconsin's Transportation Enhancement budget, a six-mile stretch of the Badger State Trail between Madison and Fitchburg will not be paved for two years.

"We feel left high and dry in the state transportation budget," said Fitchburg Ald. Steve Arnold.

Arnold - along with Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison, Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts, D-Verona, and Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin Executive Director Dar Ward - expressed concern over lack of state funding for bicycle projects at a press conference Monday.

Black said the 2005-07 budget for the Department of Transportation was an "unfortunate decision" by the state Legislature that devastated the state's bicycle projects. The budget totaled $5.8 billion, but Transportation Enhancements amounted to less than 0.2 percent of that budget. Black said the Legislature agreed to take away 70 percent from the bicycle fund, leaving 92 projects in the state unfunded.

Work begins on state's largest ethanol plant

Monday, October 09, 2006

From an article by Steve Sharp in the Watertown Daily Times:

Government officials from the central part of Jefferson County joined Gov. Jim Doyle Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Renew Energy ethanol plant at the former Ladish malting facility. Doyle arrived with further good news of a $1.5 million loan to the firm to allow it to start off on the right foot.

Renew Energy has undertaken renovation and construction of the ethanol plant that is expected to produce 130 million gallons of ethanol per year. The new facility will employ as many as 100 workers. The firm expects to utilize 50 million bushels of corn per year, much of which will come from the area.

The 12 Suggested Steps of Oilaholics Anonymous

Friday, October 06, 2006

Terry Carpenter, an activist in many conservation causes, provided the following program for all of us oil addicts:

1. We admitted we were powerless over Oil Consumption -- that our lives had become Unsustainable.
2. Came to believe that preparing for Powerdown could restore us to Sustainability.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of the Relocalization Network and give up the false hope that Technology would rescue us.
4. Made a searching and fearless inventory of our Ecological Footprints.
5. Admitted to the Planet, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our Unsustainable Lifestyle.
6. Were entirely ready to have the Universe remove all the defects of Consumerism.
7. Humbly asked the Natural World to help us see that Less is More and to redirect our life energy toward our Dreams.
8. Made a list of how we harmed Future Generations, and became willing to make amends to them.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, by Living Within Our Ecological Limits.
10. Continued to take an Energy Inventory and when we were Over-consuming, promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with the Universe, praying only for knowledge and acceptance of the Oil Depletion Protocol and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we resolved to carry the message to Oilaholics, and to practice the Plan C principles in all our affairs.

The Simplicity Prayer -- Please grant me the strength to reject over-consumption, the courage to live a simpler life and the wisdom to cherish community.

You can comment on regional transportation plan

Thursday, October 05, 2006

According to the Madison Area Regional Planning Organization:

The draft Regional Transportation Plan 2030 identifies transportation improvements, strategies, and actions that will shape our regional transportation system into the future. The objective of the plan is to build agreement on transportation investments that balance roadway, public transit, bicycle, pedestrian, and other transportation needs, while supporting regional land use, economic, and environmental goals.

Unfortunately, the plan seems to be completely void of any recognition of peak oil and the end of cheap oil.

Fortunately, anyone can submit a comment at the bottom of the organization's Web page.

State unveils home energy, heating programs

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

From an article in the LaCrosse Tribune:

Wisconsin will offer a new “furnace bounty” to homeowners that upgrade to more energy-efficient models as part of the state’s energy-saving incentive programs, the Doyle administration announced Friday.

The programs are designed to help working families save on their heating bills this winter, as well as assist low-income households, according to the statement from Gov. Jim Doyle’s office.

“As energy costs remain high, it is important for people to realize they have the ability to reduce energy consumption without sacrificing comfort or drastically altering their lifestyle,” Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said during an appearance Friday in La Crosse.

The programs also include a new home performance implementation bonus and rebates for energy-efficient light bulbs.

Madison Peak Oil meets noon, Thurs., Oct. 5

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Meeting Date and Time: October 5, 2006, 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Location: RENEW Wisconsin Conference Room, 222 S. Hamilton Street

DRAFT Agenda

1.Introductions

2.Announcements/miscellaneous

3.Preparations for Randy Udall speech (Community Office for Resource Efficiency)
7:00 p.m., October 18, Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St.
- Booth
- Sign up sheet at event
- Other

4.Peak Oil for local officials
a. Discussion of next steps for local government outline (attached)
b. Possible collaboration with Sustain Dane

5.Co-sponsorship of events with Sustain Dane
a. Tuesday, Oct. 10. David Korten, The Great Turning Point. First Unitarian, 7:30 p.m.

6.Transportation
a. What’s happening at city, county, and state level?

7.Next meeting: Nov. 2

State firm's crane runs on veggie oil

Monday, October 02, 2006

From The Capital Times on September 30, 2006:

MILWAUKEE (AP) - A Wisconsin company is testing a crane that uses vegetable oil to run its hydraulic lift system.

Most hydraulic systems use petroleum products that can damage the environment if spilled. Manitowoc Crane Group designed its truck-mounted crane to be used in or near wetlands, lakes and other environmentally sensitive areas.

"It worked just like a regular boom truck. No problems," said Jeff Johnson, chief operating officer of Scott Powerline and Utility Equipment, a Louisiana company testing the crane.

Manitowoc Crane Group had been worried that the vegetable oil would degrade or become rancid with heavy use, said John Lukow, vice president of sales and marketing.

But so far, the test has gone well. Scott Powerline has put more than 1,000 hours on its crane as it installs power line polls near Dallas.

Manitowoc now plans to offer its eco-friendly crane to others. In addition to using vegetable oil in the hydraulic system, the crane runs on a soy-based biodiesel fuel.

The company doesn't expect the veggie crane to be a big seller, but a spokesman said it gives construction companies another option.

"You never know where they're going to end up, and where there are going to be environmental options," spokesman Tom Cioni said.

Rules of downtown development

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Hans Noeldner submitted another tongue-in-cheek look at our four-wheeled world:

I am a trustee in the village of Oregon, Wisconsin, a rapidly growing bedroom community of about 8,300 near Madison, Wisconsin. Like small downtowns everywhere in the United States, ours nearly collapsed in recent decades. During the past few months another trustee and I, along with help from some citizens, have been working on plans to revitalize our downtown. We held four listening sessions and a public forum. It was after that public forum I finally comprehended the rules of the game I have been trying to play.

And here they are - the rules of a game called, “Let’s Revitalize Downtown Oregon!” Some of the rules consist of objections that have been raised against wasting valuable downtown parking space on a “square” or “plaza” – i.e. a large contiguous pedestrian area for public gatherings and events. Some pertain to smooth flow of motor vehicle traffic. Other rules comprise underlying assumptions that everyone knows but no one speaks aloud. The axiomatic rules are at the end of the list.

Tonight (Sept. 27) - Moving toward community energy independence

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Local Living Communities
Featuring Kelley Rajala
7:00pm, Wednesday September 27, 2006
UW-Arboretum (1207 Seminole Highway, Madison)
Free and Open to the Public

As individuals and communities are making a conscious shift towards healthier places, the Livability Project has used innovative methodologies to help them evolve towards renewable energy independence and to develop customized solutions appropriate for their community. Kelley Rajala, Executive Director of the Livability Project will give at free presentation open to the public on Wednesday, September 27th at 7:00pm at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum (1207 Seminole Highway, Madison). Kelley will provide insights into the local living economies movement and cover the intersection of a diverse range of subjects including energy, personal health, urban planning and biomimicry.

This free event is sponsored by Sustain Dane, Madison Peak Oil Group and Dane County Buy Local Initiative and hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Arboretum.

Focus on Energy funds solar testing lab

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Focus on Energy supplied the funds for the $20,000 grant announced by Governor Doyle to the Madison Area Technical College (MATC) to cover start-up costs associated with the development of the Northern Solar Testing and Certification Facility, only the second testing lab in the country.

Don Wichert, Focus on Energy Renewable Energy Program Director, stands with the ceremonial check from Focus on Energy.

Doyle Proposes Public, Private Investments to Develop Renewable Energy

Monday, September 25, 2006

From a media release issued by Governor Doyle's office when he announced his plans at the Madison Area Technical College on Monday, September 25:

Part of Broad Effort to Create 17,000 High End Jobs in Wisconsin
Governor Jim Doyle today unveiled plans to grow Bioindustry and Renewable Energy in Wisconsin through a $450 million public and private investment strategy – including nearly $80 million from the state - in renewable fuel sources to help the nation achieve energy independence. The Governor’s proposal, which will be included in his budget next year, is part of a broad effort to make Wisconsin the nation’s leader in energy independence and create 17,000 jobs in our state.

“Here in Wisconsin, we’re doing our part and setting an example for the nation in energy independence,” Governor Doyle said. “This new state funding will encourage innovative new energy technologies across our state that will help the nation kick its addiction to oil. As I’ve always said, when it comes to our energy future, we should be more dependent on the Midwest, and less dependent on the Mideast.”

Read the full release RENEW's blog.

Turbine open house - Byron, Wisconsin

Friday, September 22, 2006

Take a tour of the We Energies Byron wind turbines Saturday, Sept. 23. The guided tours take about 30 minutes and begin every half hour between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Visitors will have an opportunity to enter the tower base and watch the wind turbine shut down and be restarted.

Constructed in 1999, the two wind turbines feature 75-foot blades mounted on 215-foot steel towers, for a total height of 290 feet. Depending on wind speed, each turbine can generate 660 kilowatts of electricity for a total output of 1.3 megawatts. The output supplies power to customers of the We Energies Energy for Tomorrow renewable energy program (www.we-energies.com/eft/).

Attend a tour or visit our Web site to learn more about wind turbines, the importance of wind and other renewable energy sources to generate power, and We Energies' plans for future renewable energy projects.

Representatives from RENEW Wisconsin, Focus on Energy and the Midwest Renewable Energy Association also will be on site to answer questions about customer-owned wind turbines and solar installations.

Tour reservations are not needed for individuals or small groups, but groups of 10 or more should call (414) 221-4264 to reserve a specific tour time.

The wind turbines are located at 5656 County Road F in Byron, Wis.

From the south:
• Take Hwy 41 north to Hwy 49 (Waupun exit).
• Go west on Hwy 49 one-half mile to stop sign.
• Turn north on Hwy 175.
• Follow Hwy 175 north for three miles.
• Turn east on CT Hwy F and follow one-half mile to turbine site.

From the north:
• Take Hwy 41 south to CT Hwy B exit.
• Turn west on CT Hwy B and follow for one-half mile.
• Turn south on Hwy 175.
• Go south on Hwy 175 for two miles.
• Turn east on CT Hwy F and follow for one-half mile to turbine site.

$3 billion pledged to fight warming, wean ourselves from oil

Thursday, September 21, 2006

In pledging $3 billion to fight global warming, Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson said, "We have to wean ourselves off our dependence on coal and fossil fuels. Our generation has the knowledge, it has the financial resources and as importantly it has the will power to do so."

"We are very pleased today to be making a commitment to invest 100 percent of all future proceeds to the Virgin Group from our transportation interest, both our trains and airline businesses, into tackling global warming," Branson told a news conference at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York.

Read the full story at CNN Money.

Public transit to outskirts needed for fewer villagers on roads

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

The Capital Times on September 20 ran the following letter to the editor from frequent blog contibutor Hans Noeldner:

Dear Editor: When it comes to motor vehicle "runoff," Fitchburg is "downhill" from Oregon. Many Oregonians frequently drive on Fitchburg's roads and highways, but few Fitchburg residents reciprocate. The burden is almost entirely one-sided, so Oregonians may not care to think much about the effects of their vehicle travel.

And what about Madison? With few exceptions (Middleton), the bedroom communities and towns surrounding Madison impose far more traffic on Madison than vice versa. We arrive from our suburbs and exurbs and formerly independent villages, and Madison had better make room for us to drive and park. Too bad if people in the neighborhoods through which we drive don't welcome the pollution, hazards, and unpleasant side effects.

Do the municipalities that surround Madison have any obligation to restrain our generation of Madison-bound traffic? We have grudgingly formed a Capital Area Regional Planning Commission to limit storm water runoff, but we reject any limits on the motor vehicle runoff we generate by driving wherever, whenever, and as much as we please. Not that the county, state and federal government are doing anything significant to restrain us.

The whole situation among municipalities is grossly unfair and unjust. Even worse, our fierce determination to drive at all costs is exacerbating our addiction to oil, morally and economically bankrupting our nation to import the stuff, accelerating climate change, and rapidly suffocating a once-verdant Dane County under asphalt.

Leaders in smaller municipalities need not do a damn thing.

We can dismiss the worsening impacts of our driving: "Growth is progress, and more traffic is inevitable!"

We can justify the status quo: "People want to drive and we're just giving them what they want."

We can plead impotence: "Traffic problems must be dealt with at the county, state and federal levels."

Or we can point to vague promises: "Our new comprehensive plan includes our goal to 'minimize absolute reliance on the automobile.'"

Truthfully, we have scarcely begun. Even within this village itself, a tiny fraction of Oregon residents walk or bicycle for day-to-day errands, while at least 98 percent still drive.

The percentage of children who walk or bicycle to school has plummeted (nationwide, from over 66 percent in 1970 to 10 percent in 2003.) Streets near our schools and playing fields are so clogged with motorists that youngsters who still walk or bike are often endangered.

And month after month, more single-occupancy commuter vehicles head north from Oregon to Fitchburg and Madison every morning.

We must do far better - we must lead! Establishing public transit in the Oregon-Stoughton-Evansville area will be an excellent start.

Hans Noeldner
Oregon trustee

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