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MADISON, Wisconsin, US, August 23, 2006
(Refocus Weekly)
Two U.S. governors are calling for a new national
energy policy that focuses on energy independence.
Governors Jim Doyle of Wisconsin and Bill Richardson of New
Mexico Governor also announced US$1 million in new state funding for
a number of renewable energy projects.
“While President Bush talks about energy and the environment, states
like Wisconsin and New Mexico have taken decisive actions to
preserve the environment, move closer to energy independence and
promote clean, alternative sources of energy,” says Richardson, who
is a former secretary of energy. ”Now is the time to plan for the
future by reducing our dependence on foreign oil and developing
alternative fuels.”
“Our ecological security, our economic security, and our national
security are tied to our energy security,” he explained. “We call on
the President and Congress to partner with us to start taking energy
issues seriously in order to make America stronger and more secure.”
“Here in Wisconsin, we're doing our part and setting an example for
the nation in energy independence,” Doyle added. “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.”
Among the grants are $260,000 to Cashton Area Development to
commission a unit in Wisconsin this year that can convert
agricultural and other biomass into gas and char that can be burned
as fuel. Two grants of $115,000 each went to Teel Plastics to test
composites that will use waste wood flour and other agricultural
fibers as an ingredient for composite blends for the siding
industry, and to Lucigen to develop new enzymes that can increase
production of ethanol by 15% while using the same amount of corn and
without any additional investment of capital or fixed cost. The
technology could add 55 million gallons to Wisconsin's annual
ethanol production.
Another $90,000 was given to CBT Wear Parts to develop capacity to
convert food waste from cafeterias into methane which would then be
converted into natural gas. Food processors and restaurants produce
400,000 tons of food waste each year, which is the state's third
largest waste stream and represents an annual energy potential of
87.5 million KWh or 1 trillion total Btu.
In July, Doyle launched Wisconsin's ‘Declaration of Energy
Independence’ with the goal of generating 25% of its electricity and
25% of transportation fuel from renewables by 2025. It also calls
for the state to capture 10% of the market share for the production
of renewable energies by 2030, which would bring $13.5 billion a
year to Wisconsin's economy by 2030.
The declaration also calls on the state to become a national leader
in ground-breaking research that will make renewables more
affordable and available to all. The governor’s strategy to achieve
the goals includes investments in ethanol and taking at least three
University of Wisconsin campuses completely off the grid within five
years.
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