There is tremendous opportunity to increase the implementation of combined heat and power (CHP) systems in many Midwestern states. This fact sheet summarizes current and technical potential of CHP implementation in Illinois. The fact sheet also gives an overview of the current CHP policy environment and documents the number of industrial facilities that will be impacted by EPA air quality regulations.
While many of you are familiar with the use of biogas as a means for powering or heating our homes and businesses, I believe that the use of biogas as a transportation fuel is the least well-known and understood application for this versatile and greenhouse gas reducing resource. For this reason, my previous columns have focused on the vast potential of biogas as fuel for our vehicles. If this potential is to be reached, however, a critical component of the plan needs to be addressed first: infrastructure.
The U.S. electricity system is in a period of rapid change, and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who disagrees. We have a grid in need of significant updates, given the 21st century policy and business demands confronting the electric power industry. Continue reading »
FARGO – A Norwegian delegation including Jostein Mykletun, Consul General of Norway at the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in Houston, Texas, will travel to North Dakota this week to visit the state’s booming oil patch and meet with state and local leaders and higher education officials. The visit will focus on the exchange of information and ideas on energy policy and technology best practices in areas of mutual importance to Norway and North Dakota. Continue reading »
In my last Biomass Magazine column, I wrote about the enormous potential of biogas in meeting our transportation needs and as a component of a diverse fuel mix. New projects and data are demonstrating that biogas as a transportation fuel is no longer a vision, but a market reality. Under both the federal renewable fuel standard 2 (RFS2) and California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, biogas is an emerging contributor to a diverse, low-carbon fuel mix. While progress is encouraging, there is still a large amount of untapped potential, leaving plenty of room for expansion and opportunity for innovative project models.
A new mapping tool, called the EISPC EZ Mapping Tool, is assisting planners, policymakers, project developers and others in identifying clean energy resources, policies, and project screening factors that can be used for planning transmission infrastructure in the Eastern Interconnect. Continue reading »
Great Plains Institute, in collaboration with the Midwestern Governors Association, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), and regional NGO’s, has worked on moving the region forward on critical transmission plans and projects which will significantly increase the capability of the region to produce much needed wind energy. Continue reading »
Biogas energy systems have typically been considered a source of renewable electricity and/or combined heat and power, but several projects across the U.S. are demonstrating the suitability of biogas as a transportation fuel. Using biogas as a supply source of lower-carbon, domestic, renewable fuel is an exciting prospect, even in the face of abundant natural gas supplies and low prices. Continue reading »
Great Plains Institute, with the support of the Midwestern Governors Association (MGA), worked with the CapX2020 project team to create a video and other materials highlighting the significant local economic development and jobs impacts of the CapX2020 transmission projects, which total a capital investment of over $2.2 billion dollars. Continue reading »
I am honored to be writing my first column for Biomass Magazine focused on the U.S. biogas sector. I have worked on biogas energy systems for the past decade, and it is exciting to finally be at a point where increased interest in this valuable and underutilized technology is starting to build. But make no mistake, there is far more work to be done to fully take advantage of the enormous potential of biogas. Continue reading »
