Jim Meister, VP of Operations Support at Exelon, visited UW-Madison last week (10/14/2011) and made a point to deliver Exelon’s 2011 Conference sponsorship in person.  Thanks Jim, and thanks Exelon!

Pictured: James Meister of Exelon Corp, Michael Corradini of UW-Madison Nuclear Engineering/Engineering Physics Department, and the eHub Executive Team.

Focus the Nation, a national organization committed to clean energy leadership development, is now planning its next cycle of Forums-to-Action (F2A) for the upcoming 2011-2012 academic year.

Our F2A program engages hundreds of millennials on strategically selected campuses across the nation each year developing their Clean Energy Leadership skills.  Our program prepares you to moderate high-level multi-sector panel discussions on campus that develop and implement dynamic solutions in your local community.

By taking part in F2A you will gain leadership skills, knowledge of clean energy, and professional development. You will also have the opportunity to earn:

• Federal Work Study money (for eligible students)
• Independent Study Credit
• Service-Learning Credit

More information about the F2A program and the 2012 Theme:  Energy Innovation can be found on its web site.

If you are interested in this dynamic leadership opportunity, please don’t hesitate to contact Scott Williams at 608-890-2199 or spwilliams@wisc.edu.

Some interesting notes:

• Current largest turbine: manufactured by German company Enercon, 7.5 MW capacity, 135m tower, 127m diameter Wind Swept Area
• Average US turbine: 1.8 MW
• Land-based turbine size is limited by width/weight capacity of roadways and bridges during delivery – offshore turbines are expected to keep growing because space constraints are less important.
• Turbine manufacturers are working to improve the radar transparency of their turbines.
• Some newer turbines now generate power via a direct-drive mechanism linking the rotor and generator directly, while many still rely on a high-speed gearbox to transfer power from the rotor to the generator.

Expect the wind industry to keep evolving and improving – as Galbraith notes, the modern wind turbine industry is still in its infancy compared to other established industries, like the automotive industry.  Learn more about wind energy at the AWEA.

Event Webpage
Sponsored by the UW Energy Institute, the WAGE Governing Global Energy Collaborative, the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), and the European Union Center for Excellence (EUCE)

To understand where carbon emissions come from and what to do about them, we need to understand four distinct yet interconnected factors: population, economic growth, energy intensity (or economic energy efficiency), and carbon content of energy generation. These four factors, when multiplied together, can tell us how much carbon a single country is sending to the atmosphere and how much it might emit in the future.

Knowing something about each of these four factors can also help us understand what options are available to reduce carbon emissions on a global scale. In this four-part lecture series, we will examine each component as a launching point for a more in-depth discussion of global energy and environmental policy.

All lectures will take place at 4:15 p.m. in Room 1106 Mechanical Engineering (map)

• Thursday, February 17:
  “From Energy Use to Emissions: What Environmental Benefits Can Be Achieved Near-Term?” (Click here for video webcast)
  • Markus Amann, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
• Thursday, March 10:
  “Economic Energy Intensity: Complexities, Implications, and Controversies”
  • Chris Green, McGill University
• Tuesday, April 5:
  “Managing Without Growth: Slower by Design, Not Disaster”
  • Peter Victor, York University
• Thursday, April 28:
  “Population Growth and Climate Change”
  • Paul Murtaugh, Oregon State University

For more information, contact Scott Williams by e-mail or (608) 890-2199.

Registration requested. Click here to register.

Theoretical Background: The Kaya Identity

The theme of this lecture series is based on the Kaya Identity – a formula used to calculate the human contribution to carbon dioxide emissions. The picture below illustrates this formula.

A similar concept is the IPAT equation:
I=PxAxT, or Environmental Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology

Useful links on the Kaya Identity and IPAT Equation:

• Wikipedia article on Kaya Identity
• Online Kaya Identity calculator (provided by Wired Magazine)
• Simple Kaya Identity forecasting model (provided by Prof. David Archer, University of Chicago)
• IPAT Equation Explained

Grid scale energy storage could play an important role in a future electricity grid that incorporates large quantities of variable renewable generation sources, like wind and solar.   Today’s mostly fossil-fuel powered grid could also benefit from quick-dispatch energy storage systems to help grid operators keep the AC cycle frequency within the strict ranges required by modern electronic equipment.

Admin note, 11/2/11: Beacon Power, the flywheel-based energy storage manufacturer featured in the NYT article linked above, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 31, 2011.

Energy Hub’s partner, Wisconsin Public Utility Institute, has an online archive of audio/video recordings of their top-quality programs dealing with various modern energy issues like electricity generation and transmission, fossil fuels, renewable energy, nuclear energy, climate change, EV-to-Grid strategies and more.

The screenshot shown above is from the archived talk with Dr. Gavin Schmidt, from his “Communicating Climate Science” lecture in March 2010:

We’ll add a permanent link to our menu bar at the top of www.uwehub.org:

Special thanks to the helpful folks at Engineering Media Services for editing and hosting this great library of videos.

We’ll post pics and video soon, so please check back soon.

Help us plan the 2011 Conference – stop by our weekly meeting to get involved and make your mark on the next eHub event.

Read the full article here.

Look no further than clean energy. Some are calling it the biggest market opportunity in history. Experts of all stripes have repeatedly stated that the nation that wins the clean-energy race will be the nation that leads the 21st century economy. Discovering and implementing cheap, clean and reliable energy technologies is our generation’s final frontier.

But, as Cefali asked, how do we get there? President Obama has proposed doing so by increasing funding for energy education and training through a program called RE-ENERGYSE (short for REgaining our ENERGY Science and Engineering Edge). More than 100 organizations, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison, signed a letter last summer urging Congress to support the program, which would augment energy education in universities, training schools, community colleges and even K-12 teacher education. It’s easy to see why: UW-Madison professor and energy policy expert Greg Nemet said that he thinks “maybe the biggest opportunity is to take advantage of the fact that we have tens of thousands of students here who could potentially be working on [creating a clean energy economy].” However, Congress ignored last summer’s call to action by rejecting Obama’s $115 million budget request for RE-ENERGYSE.

Despite Congress’ lack of support for energy education and training, hope is not lost for Wisconsin. The Wisconsin State Legislature is currently considering a bill dubbed the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA). CEJA rolls out a policy to ramp up renewables to provide 25 percent of Wisconsin’s electricity by 2025. This policy, known as a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), makes sense. The RPS ensures a stable, long-term market for renewable energy, thus creating market opportunities and driving investment in wind and other low-carbon technologies. Investment in turn makes clean energy cheaper and lowers utility bills. Perhaps more important, the state’s Economic and Policy Staff has estimated CEJA would create more than 15,000 jobs. In addition to more jobs, the bill provides an opportunity to develop smarter students and a stronger workforce.

Why add a provision to the bill to increase funding for energy education and training? Because the RPS alone will not create the low-carbon energy system Wisconsin needs. The Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming recommended that Wisconsin implement “substantial increases in federal and state research and development (R&D) for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction technologies.” R&D is particularly crucial to figuring out ways to modernize the electricity grid, store wind and solar power and invent breakthrough technologies. CEJA could support R&D by giving UW-Madison—recently ranked among the top 10 universities for cleantech—and other Wisconsin institutions the funds to advance our energy system. To sustain the R&D of clean energy, CEJA must also invest in Wisconsin’s students. At a recent town hall, President Obama said: “We’re not going to be able to ramp up solar and wind to suddenly replace every other energy source … [W]e’ve got to look at how to make existing technologies and options better.” To meet our clean energy goals over the next century, Wisconsin will need a new, well-educated generation of researchers.

To meet the short-term objectives laid out by the CEJA, Wisconsin must also invest in its current workforce. Along the lines of the proposals laid out by the Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming, we propose that CEJA directly fund the training of Wisconsinites to create knowledgeable workers who can construct Wisconsin’s clean energy economy over the coming years.

We realize that with Wisconsin currently short on cash, it may be fiscally difficult to add an additional program to CEJA. If adding our proposal to CEJA does indeed prove politically impossible, we recommend incorporating it in the next state budget. Now or in the near future, Wisconsin needs to increase energy education. Gaining a competitive edge in clean energy requires not only opening markets with policies like a RPS, but taking advantage of those markets by creating talented researchers and a skilled workforce.

As the saying goes, if you teach a man to fish, he will build a clean energy future. If we fail to invest in today’s students, we will miss a critical opportunity and give other countries a head start in the global clean energy race. This is our chance to lead the generation of a low-carbon economy.

Stephen Collins and Danny Spitzberg are pursuing master’s degrees in public affairs and environmental studies, respectively. Please send all responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

(This article was originally published in the Daily Cardinal)

The fourth annual UW-Madison Residence Hall Energy Competition, organized by Big Red Go Green begins Monday.

According to Clay Thomas, Big Red Go Green media intern, the competition encourages residences of each dorm on campus to reduce their energy consumption, offering a prize for the winning dorm. Big Red Go Green is a campaign run by the Wisconsin Students Public Interests Research Group on campus.

Thomas said in the past that the prize has involved parties or socials for all members of the winning dorm, but the organizers are looking into new ideas for this year’s prize.

He added that students who promise to save energy individually by signing a pledge will become eligible to win prizes from area businesses such as Buffalo Wild Wings, Sconnie Nation and Underground Textbook Exchange.

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