The transportation sector is the highest-emitting sector of greenhouse gases (GHG) in Minnesota. This post summarizes two of the major transportation policies being developed in Minnesota to address the state’s GHG emissions—Clean Cars Minnesota and the Future Fuels Act. Continue reading »
This blog post is the first of a new series where we examine the interrelationship between renewable natural gas (RNG) and anaerobic digestion, address the challenges that have hindered commercialization, and highlight exciting opportunities in the industry. Continue reading »
Last week, the bipartisan and bicameral Future Fuels Act was introduced in the Minnesota State Legislature, authored by Minnesota House of Representatives Assistant Majority Leader Todd Lippert (DFL) and Senate Energy and Utilities Finance and Policy Committee Chairman David Senjem (R). The House bill had its first hearing in the Climate and Energy Finance and Policy Committee, marking the first time a clean fuels policy received a legislative hearing in the Midwest.
Broad Coalition Supports Statewide Minnesota Clean Fuels Standard
Automakers, biofuel, EV advocates back new bipartisan, bicameral legislation Continue reading »
The Partnership on Waste and Energy, a collaboration between Minnesota’s Hennepin, Ramsey, and Washington counties that addresses waste and energy management issues, just released the report, Policy and Regulatory Considerations to Develop Food Waste Digestion in Minnesota, which was authored by the Great Plains Institute (GPI).
About a year after Great Plains Institute President and CEO Rolf Nordstrom was appointed to the 22-member Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) Sustainable Transportation Advisory Council (STAC), the council has come forward with its initial recommendations to decarbonize transportation in Minnesota. MnDOT will respond to these first recommendations by mid-March while STAC members continue to develop the next round of recommendations during 2021. Continue reading »
Forests and farms play major roles in the Great Plains Institute’s vision of transforming Minnesota’s energy system for both economic and environmental benefit. Minnesota’s relatively new Bioincentive Program is advancing innovations to make that happen. Continue reading »
GPI President and CEO Rolf Nordstrom wrote “What Business Owners Should Know to Prepare for the Shift to Electric Vehicles” for the Forbes Business Council website where it was originally published. Nordstrom recently became a council member.
Transportation electrification will likely permanently change how we move people and goods, so having a nuanced understanding of electric vehicles (EVs) and their implications is now a business imperative. Even though Tesla is a household name, there’s a lot of mythology and outdated information out there about EVs. Continue reading »
On November 5, 2020, participants in the Midwestern Clean Fuels Policy Initiative, a group facilitated by the Great Plains Institute, submitted a letter to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in response to CARB’s solicitation for feedback following a public workshop focused on the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in October 2020. The letter’s contents urged CARB to include farm-level greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions factors in lifecycle accounting for biofuels in the next iteration of the LCFS.
A clean transportation standard is a technology-neutral, performance-based policy that reduces the use of high-carbon transportation fuels while providing incentives to deploy lower-carbon alternatives such as electricity, hydrogen, and biofuels. We developed this 101 blog to help inform decision makers considering a Midwestern clean transportation standard as well as others that would like to know more about the initiative. Continue reading »
