2012 Update: Beyond Coal to Clean Energy

2012 Update:From Dairyland to Cashton and Valley to

Waxdale

Elizabeth WardConservation Programs Coordinator

Sierra Club-John Muir Chapter

Mining: Strip mining and mountaintop removal

mining

Climate Change, Mercury, Soot, Smog, Ozone Pollution

Quick Refresher: Why is coal so bad?Coal Ash

Dairyland Settlement:•Retire Alma Coal Plant•Scrub Genoa Coal Plant•$2 million on solar•$2.5 million solar on schools and energy efficiency•$500,000 to restoring our forests and parks

Alliant:Announced it would retire 47% of it’s fleet:•Edgewater (Sheboygan)-1 Unit•Nelson Dewey (Cassville)- both units•Scrub Columbia

Valley Coal Plant:•We Energies announced it would convert to natural gas•Eliminate positions, not people•Project completed by 2016•Eliminate or reduce soot, smog, heavy metals, mercury, and thermal pollution•Reduce greenhouse gas amounts by at least 40%•Run 75% less?

• Easiest, most cost-effective, least invasive solution

• Being smarter about how we use energy

• Changing light-bulbs, insulating home, caulking windows, efficient appliances

• 2% reduction/year could mean 14 million metric tons of CO2 reduction by 2020

• Energy Efficiency could replace 25-27% of energy emissions by 2030 (Tackling Climate Change in U.S.)

• Photovoltaic (PV)- converts sunlight to electricity• Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)- sunlight boils water and turns turbines• Wisconsin: 13 MW installed Solar

• Germany: 7.5 GW installed solar capacity

• Wind turns blades, which spin a shaft connected to a generator, and makes electricity.

• 2011: Wisconsin had 469 mw installed [IA- 5,000 mw; IL-2,743 mw; MN- 2,518 mw]

• 103,757 mw (10.4 GW) potential [AWEA]

2011-2012:•4 cancelled problems from business uncertainty

•S.C. Johnson Waxdale Project

• 15% of electricity used at Waxdale facility

•Cashton Community Wind Farm

• First community wind farm in WI

• Village of Cashton, Organic Valley, & Gunderson Lutheran

•Proposed projects:• Forest County, Ozaukee

County

Population centers surround the Great

Lakes

Transmission Lines

How do we get Offshore Wind?

Manufacture and Shipping of Turbines-*size requires this to occur near site

Foundation Installation

Shipping and staging at Deep water ports

Turbine Installation

Current Offshore Wind Projects

Current U.S. Projects at Various Stages

• Europe has been using offshore wind for 20 years• First project installed in

Denmark in 1991• Currently, 4,000 MW of

capacity• 5,200 MW more in various

stages• Goal of 150 GW by 2030

• Asia:• 233 MW already installed• China goal: 1 GW by 2014• South Korea has world record

investment- $8.2 Billion• Japan aims to take the lead in

the sector• Companies leading the way• Mitsubishi, Fuji, Toshiba,

Hyundai, Samsung

Potential Benefits: Economic Development

Potential Benefits: Jobs, Jobs, and more Jobs

Potential Benefits: Jobs, Jobs, and more Jobs

•Shipping Lanes•Shipwrecks/ Diving hot-spots•Geology•Lake Depth•Naval Training Areas•Commercial Fishing areas•Fish spawning/habitats

Haven’t we destroyed the lake enough?

What does this mean for the fish?What about fish spawning? -Europe has actually seen some benefits

What does this mean for birds and bats?-Sierra Club helped fund a monitor that will help us figure out which bird/bat species are in the Lake

What could this lead to?

These are all things we need to try to figure out and seriously study, but it benefits us to work towards solving these concerns so that we can have Great Lakes Wind. We need to put into perspective what our other forms of energy do to Lake Michigan….

Coal Dust from Edgewater Coal Pile,Sheboygan

Climate Change Effects

Giant Fish BlendersThermal Pollution

Mercury Pollution

Simulation of a 10 turbine, 50 MW wind farm located 6 miles offshore,

Courtesy Grand Valley State University

Conclusions

Thank you!

Questions?

Elizabeth WardConservation Programs CoordinatorSierra Club-John Muir Chapter

(608) [email protected]