We are excited to host our second annual Energy Innovation Celebration on September 29, 2016, at the beautiful Nicollet Island Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Continue reading »
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MPSC White Paper: Key Considerations for Making Allowance Distribution Decisions
July 14, 2016 in Reports & Whitepapers
States that opt to pursue a mass-based trading approach to achieve federal Clean Power Plan (CPP) requirements will have the opportunity to decide how to distribute allowances. The total value of the allowances to be distributed is likely to be significant, making allowance distribution a key decision for states. The Midcontinent Power Sector Collaborative presents this white paper to assist states in making allowance distribution decisions. Continue reading »
Multi-stakeholder Collaborative Issues Advice to States on Clean Power Plan
July 14, 2016 in Reports & Whitepapers Author: Franz Litz
The Midcontinent Power Sector Collaborative has released the first of a series of white papers prepared jointly by representatives of electric utilities, cooperative and municipal power providers, merchant generators, environmental organizations, and state regulatory agencies and designed to help states make key decisions under the federal Clean Power Plan. Continue reading »
Press Release: Diverse Coalition Applauds Introduction of Carbon Capture Incentive Legislation in the U.S. Senate
July 13, 2016 in News & Press
The National Enhanced Oil Recovery Initiative (NEORI) and Coal Utilization Research Council (CURC) applaud U.S. Senators Heidi Heitkamp and Sheldon Whitehouse and co-sponsoring Senators Jon Tester, Brian Schatz, Cory Booker, and Tim Kaine for today’s introduction of the Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage Act, which aims to accelerate commercial deployment of technologies to capture carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and industrial facilities for enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) and other forms of geologic storage or for conversion to useful products. Continue reading »
Evaluating the Economics for Energy Storage in the Midcontinent: A Battery Benefit-Cost Analysis
July 12, 2016 in Reports & Whitepapers
The range of benefits energy storage can provide to the electricity system are widely known among those in industry and well documented in the literature. Among these are storage’s abilities to help integrate wind and solar energy, improve grid reliability, and increase the economic efficiency of the electricity system. Despite the benefits, there has not yet been widespread deployment of energy storage. This is due to two main factors. First, there currently are not markets set up to allow storage owners to earn revenue for many of the services they provide. Second, storage technologies have historically been more expensive than alternative resources that can provide comparable services. However, both of these barriers have been easing recently. Continue reading »
Minnesota and Sweden Strengthen Bioenergy Collaboration
July 1, 2016 in Transportation & Fuels Authors: Amanda Bilek, Diana Vega-Vega
Since the signage of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and the Swedish Ministry for Enterprise and Innovation on bioenergy cooperation, a Swedish Delegation has worked with the Great Plains Institute to help convene interested parties in the exchange of ideas and to build long-term relationships for potential bioenergy project collaboration.
The Swedish Delegation has visited Minnesota with a focused interest on collaboration in biogas since 2014. The trips led by the Swedish Energy Agency, aim to promote information and business exchange between Minnesota and Sweden while increasing the share of renewable energy through the intended collaboration. You can read about a previous Swedish Energy Agency visit to MN here.
This year GPI arranged meetings between the Swedish Biogas delegation and various companies and organizations around the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and even partook in a visit to Wisconsin. Sites visited included the Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy Center, Hastings Cooperative Creamery, Covanta Energy Corporation, Hennepin County Public Works Department, NatureWorks LLC, Jon-De Farm Inc., Ever-Green Energy, and the University of Minnesota.
Technology solutions for different intended projects were discussed. At the Hastings Cooperative Creamery, ideas were shared about the possibility of a bigger facility to help with the reduction of waste water produced by the creamery and improved efficiency.
At Covanta, the meeting focused on sharing solutions to help shape an advanced waste processing project for the City of Minneapolis.
Hennepin County is exploring the potential for an anaerobic digestion project to process household and commercial source separated organics that are currently being collected but composted.
NatureWorks is currently conducting a Department of Energy research project to use methane to produce lactic acid. They prefer a source of biomethane and are examining options for a pilot biomethane-to-lactic acid project. They are looking to bring online the first global-scale methane-to-lactic acid fermentation facility.
The Swedish Delegation openly expressed their feedback and gave opinions on how these various businesses and organizations could partner with Swedish companies to implement and improve current existing technologies.
The meetings also aimed to spark interest in a call for proposals. The Swedish Agency hopes to receive interest from around the globe, including Minnesota, to receive a grant for a feasibility studies or demonstration projects for bioenergy technology applications, including biogas. The grant will be funded through the Swedish Energy Agency. The application will open in late July and will be due at the end of August. Key findings of the studies will be presented on the next Swedish Delegation trip to Minnesota in the spring of 2017.
Tennant Co. Experiences the Power of Electric Vehicles!
June 29, 2016 in Transportation & Fuels Author: Will Dunder
On June 16, Tennant Co. held its annual employee expo, featuring an electric vehicle (EV) ride and drive presented by Drive Electric Minnesota and its partners.
Nissan brought two Leafs for participants to take around the block. Many employees showed enthusiasm and expressed enjoyment on their first spin in an EV. Continue reading »
The Climate Corner: Why the Clean Energy Transition Seems Both Impossible and Inevitable
June 17, 2016 in News & Press Author: Rolf Nordstrom
*This originally appeared in the Door County Peninsula Post here*
Why does a clean energy transition seem impossible? Let’s start with the basics of the climate change problem that 97% of climate scientists say, categorically, we need to fix: Continue reading »
A Biomass Bright Spot from the 2016 Minnesota Legislative Session
June 10, 2016 in Transportation & Fuels Author: Amanda BilekAlthough the regular session for the Minnesota legislature concluded on May 23, we are still waiting to see if legislative leaders can come to agreement on a special session to address unfinished issues from the regular session: investments for public works projects and transportation. However, a few days after the end of regular session, Governor Mark Dayton signed the supplemental budget bill. Continue reading »
EIA Outlook Study Shows Jump in Expected Renewables Development
June 9, 2016 in Energy Systems Author: Matt Prorok
On June 2, 2016, the U.S. Energy Information Administration released a preview of its Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) report for 2016, highlighting a marked increase in its projection of wind and solar generation capacity over the coming decades. Continue reading »
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