A New Energy Future, With Details, In DNR Report

Because Wisconsin has the resources to create a world-class "bioeconomy," and also could become a major site of renewal wind and wave energy generation, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has begun to review some paradigm-shifting Badger State opportunities, according to documents obtained from the DNR under the Wisconsin Open Records law.

The documents are among almost 500 pages released to this blog in December, and are compiled in a transition briefing book prepared by DNR staffers for Matt Frank, the department's new Secretary.

Here are some highlights:

In Section 9, "Climate Change/Energy Independence," staffers say:"We have met with a developer who is in the early stages of proposing to put 610 wind turbines in Lake Michigan, from Kewaunee to Kenosha. While a great idea, there are legal issues that will need to be addressed and we have done an issue paper on the idea. (Attachment 2)."

That attachment, dated July 23, 2007, lays out a lengthy list of state and federal regulatory, ownership and related issues that could affect the placement of such a large number of wind turbine structures in the Great Lakes, on the lakebeds.

Additionally, similar issues could arise because "demands for renewable energy sources" will likely produce "several proposals in the immediate future for the placement of electrical generating structures on lakebeds."

Allowing either so-called "wave turbines," or wind turbines on the lakebeds would require statutory changes, federal reviews and other substantive and jurisdictional actions, records show.

In Northern Wisconsin, where wood resources abound, there has been "an increase in the number of inquiries about the permitting for alternative fuel sources," with financial stumbling blocks preventing potential applicants from moving forward, the briefing book discloses.

Potential fuel sources at 11 additional plants include [wood] pellet manufacturing, bio diesel and something referred to as "Plasma technology?"

In a separate discussion of the DNR's forested Southern Region, (11 counties: Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Lafayette, Richland, Rock and Sauk), staff briefers note that "there has been a big boom in the ethanol industry...the region has the potential to serve as a major producer of Bio-based fuels.'

The region is working "to promote the development of a biofuels industry in an environmentally sustainable way," the records indicate.

Additionally, briefers say that the region is studying "the use of biomass from state lands," working with utilities to ensure that new power generating plants "are capable of burning alternative sustainable fuels," and is seeking "opportunities to champion the conversion of seed-based ethanol production to cellulosic ethanol production."

That changeover could save huge amounts of water and energy used to grow corn that is used for ethanol production - - the very boom in the ethanol business so popular with farmers and ethanol-refining corporations state-and-nationwide.

On the 48th and 49th pages of the briefing book's "Current Issues" section, DNR staff spell out the potential value of the state's "Emerging Bioeconomy," given the state's forest and wood-products industries:

"The emerging bioeconomy offers the most significant economic opportunity for Wisconsin in our generation. If Wisconsin can move to claim a significant share of the emerging bioeconomic market, we will have created billions of dollars worth of new business in our state."

The briefers discuss education, research, development and other investments "needed for success," and close by saying a comprehensive Wisconsin strategy could reduce "greenhouse gases and other air and water pollutants in Wisconsin and around the world."

Heady stuff - - and perhaps, as the briefers write - - the key to a new Wisconsin economy that recreates the state's agricultural heritage and turns Wisconsin into a renewable energy leader.

Academics and policy-makers have been assembling pieces of this strategy, some at the behest of Governor Doyle, but it appears a number of businesses have taken the next step with DNR personnel.

Petroleum fuels are getting ridiculously expensive, and greenhouse gas emissions are influencing climate change.

If the DNR is working this hard behind-the-scenes on a Wisconsin solution and contribution, let's hear more.