The Great Plains Institute’s “Louisiana Decision Support Tool“ (Decision Support Tool) for carbon management offers a way for community members, project developers, and regulators to delve into social and environmental data to learn more about local factors to consider when locating energy projects. Continue reading »
Minnesota’s largest wildfire in a century started with a lightning strike in August 2011. It burned slowly for a few weeks before more than tripling in size in a few days, driven by an unprecedented wind event. All told, the Pagami Creek Fire burned more than 92,000 acres of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Almost ten years later, the Greenwood Fire burned nearly 20,000 acres, mostly within the Superior National Forest, which prompted the first temporary closure of the Boundary Waters since the 1970s. Continue reading »
The United States must rapidly decarbonize its industrial and energy production sectors to meet its midcentury climate goals, and carbon management is essential to meeting this objective. Carbon management has an important and complementary role alongside other emissions reduction strategies in decarbonizing sectors across our economy while protecting high-wage jobs. Continue reading »
Two years ago this month, Congress passed the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Transportation electrification was one of the priorities in the legislation—electric vehicles and related infrastructure were eligible for $30.7 billion of the funding. We broke down the electric vehicle programs in a previous blog. Continue reading »
The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced a historic investment in our nation’s electric grid, with $3.46 billion for projects across the US to “strengthen electric grid resilience and reliability.” The announcement included $464 million to fund a proposal jointly developed by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Great Plains Institute, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), and Southwest Power Pool (SPP) for DOE’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program. The project will spur the development of zero-carbon electricity generation across several states by supporting essential transmission infrastructure. Continue reading »
As demand for and development of solar energy rapidly grows, opposition to large-scale solar projects from host community residents and non-energy stakeholders can hinder the solar permitting processes. This opposition is frequently rooted in stakeholders’ concern for natural resources, agricultural practices, local economic base, and rural character. Continue reading »
If you ask the average American how many entities they think are involved in designing a complex policy, they’ll likely say: “Many.” We at the Great Plains Institute (GPI) have found that to be true. To design policy to achieve multiple objectives, it’s critical to engage as many of the stakeholders that would be impacted by that legislation as early in the process as possible. Continue reading »
September 28, 2023, MINNEAPOLIS—A first-of-its-kind tool will provide a central hub for Louisiana decision makers and the broader interested public to consider social, environmental, legal, and community data and factors when determining where to locate carbon management projects in the state. Continue reading »
Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs), the Minnesota statewide partnership to support community-based clean energy projects, is now accepting applications for seed grants for 2024! Applications are due at noon on October 10, 2023, and projects will be conducted from January 2024 through January 2025. Read the request for proposal for the full criteria and eligibility. Continue reading »
Although less than a quarter of Americans know much about the Inflation Reduction Act even a year later, it still has the potential to improve people’s lives and transform our energy system and economy for the better. Whether we will realize the full potential of this historic legislation depends on how we approach public engagement, who is at the proverbial table, and what outcomes we’re optimizing for. Continue reading »
