In September, the Great Plains Institute and World Resources Institute held a virtual Capitol Hill briefing to hear how Congress can spur economic activity in the US industrial sector, helping to create and maintain jobs in the near term, while putting American industry on a long-term path to deep emissions reductions, high-wage job retention and creation, technology leadership, and economic competitiveness.
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Dear Better Energy Community,
While so much is uncertain in our country right now, I am sure of one thing; Midwestern and Gulf Coast states are essential to the economic recovery in the US.
The recovery is even more challenging with an already devastating hurricane season on the Gulf Coast, destructive wind storms in Iowa, and wildfires in the west. Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by these disasters. It has added even more urgency to our already urgent work.
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The Carbon Capture Coalition released a factsheet earlier this year on the economic and jobs creation potential in the US from commercializing carbon capture technologies. The factsheet also “details which projects are at risk for delay or cancelation if Congress fails to act on the Coalition’s recent recommendations crafted in response to the economic crisis caused by COVID-19.” Continue reading »
Capturing Carbon in Nebraska was a three-part webinar series hosted by the Great Plains Institute and Battelle Memorial Institute, which focused on carbon capture, utilization, and storage opportunities in Nebraska. Battelle led project activities, which included geologic characterization of commercial storage sites in Nebraska and Kansas, project risk assessment of an integrated CCUS project in the Midcontinent, regulatory and permitting issues, commercialization and planning of commercial CCUS projects, and public outreach. The series was a product of the Integrated Midcontinent Stacked Carbon Storage Hub research project funded by the US Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Carbon Storage Assurance and Feasibility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) Initiative. The CarbonSAFE Initiative aims to develop “geologic storage sites for the storage of 50+ million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial sources.” Continue reading »
The City of Red Wing, Minnesota, adopted its climate action work plan (CAWP) in early August, which the city developed with the Great Plains Institute using our new, more agile approach to climate planning. The CAWP is a shorter version of a climate action plan, enabling Red Wing to make progress on near-term priorities that go toward its long-term goal of reducing emissions by 80 percent on or before 2040, without getting overwhelmed by a long list of actions. Red Wing is the first city to adopt the CAWP approach developed by GPI; our hope is that more cities—especially small and mid-size cities—use this as a more manageable path to accelerate effective climate action. Continue reading »
A new report finds the Bioincentive Program contributed to $1.2 billion dollars of economic activity through construction and $601.7 million from operations, including employment for more than 8,300 Minnesotans.
The full press release, which is available below, was originally posted on the Bioeconomy Coalition of Minnesota website (the Great Plains Institute facilitates the coalition). You can also access the Economic Contribution of the Biobased Industrial Products Industry: Minnesota 2019 report online. The report was prepared by the University of Minnesota Extension’s Center for Community Vitality and the Great Plains Institute.
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Great Plains Institute Vice President for Carbon Management Brad Crabtree submitted written testimony to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to inform a Wyoming field hearing this week examining “Energy and Environmental Innovation: Wyoming’s Leadership in Using and Storing Carbon Dioxide Emissions.” Continue reading »
My name is Kehinde Bello and this past spring I interned with the Great Plains Institute, where I assisted with GPI’s work as a partner of the Minnesota GreenStep Cities program. Through this internship, I not only made connections with mentors and colleagues, but I also learned how collaborative community engagement can lead to a more significant impact. Continue reading »
The Great Plains Institute is engaging local governments across the Upper Midwest on long-term planning for renewable energy. As part of this effort, we developed a guide to provide communities in Michigan with an overview of long-term utility- and community-scale solar and wind development—systems sized one megawatt (MW) or greater. Continue reading »
The United States could see 300 gigawatts of large-scale solar deployment in the next decade, with 150–200 gigawatts concentrated mainly in the Midwest where existing land use is often tied to agriculture. The significant land use and siting barriers to this large-scale solar deployment are daunting and warrant re-thinking the role of solar in agricultural economies. By moving toward beneficial solar-integrated agriculture or co-location of solar and agriculture—vs. solar as a single-use development—we can capture the benefits of both while reducing potential conflict. Continue reading »
