On E&E News TV today, Gov. James Doyle (D) discusses Wisconsin’s progress on clean energy and explains how his state will be affected by a federal cap on emissions. Specifically, Doyle responds to questions about the Waxman-Markey ACES legislation. He addresses a recent move by Wisconsin’s Legislature to cut $30 million in funding for a signature clean energy fund. Doyle also explains how Wisconsin plans to use stimulus funds for clean energy programs and job development.

Read the transcript or watch the video.

Madison Gas & Electric is installing several charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs), right here in Madison. Check out this story from autobloggreen.com. According to MG&E, this is the first project of its kind in the United States. All we need now are affordable EVs or plug-in hybrids to get some use out of these stations once they’re built.

In related news, a new report from New York found that their regional grid will be able to handle a substantial increase in plug-in vehicles without building new capacity, as long as they charge overnight. The report also supported the argument that plug-in vehicles would support wind power, since wind is intermittent and often blows stronger at night. Plug-in cars’ batteries provide a source of storage for intermittent power sources. But, it’s too early to tell how quickly these cars will make a dent in the market.

A “wake up and smell the coffee” article in The Times of London reminds us of some truths about energy we use to get us up and running every day. The article covers physicist David MacKay squaring off against the IEA as he knocks flat misconceptions about our gadgets and the widely-believed good done for the climate.

The Times of London article is one of many to review a new e-book by MacKay, physicist at Cambridge University. As written, take-home message from the article is that appliances left plugged-in are perhaps the least of our worries.. For example: your phone charger “consumes only 0.01kWh a day”, and switching off your phone charger for a day saves as much energy the same as a hot bath, or driving an average car for one second. Going farther above and beyond cars and chargers, What about planes? MacKay calculates a roundtrip flight from London to Cape Town uses “nearly as much as the energy used driving an average car 50km a day, every day, all year.”

These are only light-weight soundbites. The article carries the right message – don’t lose sleep at night if you left your coffeemaker plugged in all day, but definitely don’t feel satisfied if that is your good deed for the day – there are much bigger appliances to fry. Read the rest of this entry →

POWER HUNGRY: Re-Envisioning Electricity In The U.S. - a week-long series about our grid, in seven parts plus three extra features and a very cool interactive map.

Follow the whole series at npr.org

Ted Holby, a Computational Materials Group member and Energy Hub executive, and his business partner Matt Miller, a PhD candidate in Physics, won the Nelson Institute’s Climate Leadership Challenge competition yesterday for “Best National Solution” for his proposal called “A Novel Method of Carbon Sequestration” (involving solar thermal energy, biochar, and a bunch of other really sustainable stuff! – ask Ted for details). This award is accompanied by a hefty cash prize.

Congratulations Ted, and thanks for your leadership in making our world a better place!

A formula put forward in an Earth Day article on energy by the New York Times’ Tierney Lab needs a second look… Comments are welcome!

In what could be an encouraging sign of change in the long-standing shortage of Americans preparing for “clean energy” careers, the subject is suddenly hot on college campuses across the nation — a surge of interest largely stimulated by the specter of global warming. Read article.

Byron Nuclear Generating Station

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FROM THE WISCONSIN PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, MADISON – The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) today announced that all 118 Wisconsin electric providers have met their renewable portfolio standards for 2007, 111 providers have exceeded the requirements for the year, and most are well on their way to meeting their increased obligations. Full Article (PDF)

Many students don’t yet understand the scale and complexity of the technical, economic, political and social issues that must accompany any serious discussion about energy. Our group serves as a crossroads for the widely varied interests in the energy community. Our members are scientists, engineers, environmentalists and policy students, among others, who recognize that we’ll have to work together to solve what may be the biggest problem humanity has ever faced.”

– Read at madisonmagazine.com