A Series on the Four Main Levers of Carbon Emissions

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.

More →

Please pre-register here

UW-Madison Engineering Physics Chair Michael Corradini
on the nuclear accident in Japan:

By Renee Meiller, College of Engineering News

Michael Corradini, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of engineering physics, is an expert on nuclear power and nuclear safety. He can discuss aspects of nuclear power and reactor safety as they relate to the events at the Fukushima power plant in Japan.

Japanese nuclear regulations regarding radiation release dictated the plant announce a site emergency; however, says Corradini, radiation levels outside the plant are low. “The sun, radioactive elements in the ground, and our own radioactivity, make up the natural radioactivity we receive over the course of our lives,” he says. “The Japanese site emergency was announced because the amount of radiation release per hour approached 10 percent of the annual natural background radiation. That means it would take about 5 to 10 hours to reach an annual dose from natural background radiation. It fell below that threshold and has spiked after the hydrogen combustion in each of the plants.”

He says it’s likely that, as part of the process for cooling the nuclear reactors, radiation was released. “Their procedure for letting out steam will release some radioactive gases (likely noble gases and iodine). The fuel probably was damaged early in the accident due to a lack of cooling for a number of hours,” he says. The purpose of the seawater injection and steam venting is to maintain cooling.

In the reactors, steam caused the fuel metal cladding to oxidize, generating hydrogen. That hydrogen was vented along with the steam and combusted with air in the building above the containment vessel. That resulted in the building demolishment.

Although the events leading up to the accident at the Fukushima plant are different from those 32 years ago at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, Corradini says the outcome is likely similar. “No significant levels of radiation that would adversely affect human health have been released,” he says. “From a radiological consequences standpoint, it’s probably similar to but greater than the Three Mile Island accident, both for the workers and for the general public.”

Corradini says that, following an earthquake and tsunami virtually unprecedented in its magnitude, it’s logical and rational that regulatory bodies reassess how natural disasters and climatological events affect not only the nuclear power industry, but all industry and civil infrastructure. However, he points out, the Japanese report that the reactor containment vessels are intact—mainly because they are designed to the highest standards and safety specifications.

CONTACT: Michael Corradini, (608) 263-1648, (608) 358-6568 or Click to e-mail

Engineering an Electrified Steel Interstate

Oil-Free Transportation Options for the 21st Century

Speaker: Alan S. Drake, independent consultant on oil-free transportation and energy efficiency

Thursday, March 24, 2011, 6:00pm
Rm. 1800 Engineering Hall

Free public lecture, all are welcome.

More →

Part 2 in “Carbon, Energy, the Economy, and Population: A Series on the Four Main Levers of Carbon Emissions”

March 10, 2011
4pm-5:15pm

Refreshments served at 4 p.m., talk begins at 4:15 p.m.

Prof. Chris Green
McGill University
Montreal, Quebec

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

Room 1106, Mechanical Engineering (map)
Parking in Lot 17 (map)
Madison Metro Bus: (Plan your trip)
Campus bike map | Madison bike map

For more information, contact Scott Williams by e-mail
More →

Join Energy Hub for our weekly meeting on Thursday, March 3 at 6pm in Rm 3118 Student Activity Center (note the room change) to meet and discuss wind energy with Deborah Erwin of the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.   We’ll have pizza and soda for attendees – bring a reusable cup to save plastic.

Deborah Erwin, renewable energy analyst at the Public Service Commission, will be talking about the recently completed wind siting rules. In October, 2009, the Legislature directed the Public Service Commission to write uniform rules to govern local government regulation of wind energy systems in Wisconsin.  The Commission completed these rules at the end of 2010, and they are anticipated to take effect March 1, 2011 (see update below).  Deborah will discuss some of the major provisions of the wind siting rules, including standards for wind turbine setbacks and noise and shadow flicker limits, as well as the status of pending legislative efforts related to wind siting.

UPDATE March 1, 2011: State Committee Suspends Wind Energy Regulations (Channel3000.com)

Republican lawmakers have suspended wind turbine siting standards on the day they were set to take effect.

The Public Service Commission worked through most of last year to craft uniform construction and setback standards for turbines. The rules were set to go into effect Tuesday.

Republicans took control of the Legislature in November. They said they’re worried the rules would allow developers to build turbines too close to neighbors’ property, driving down land values and increasing the risk of injury.

The Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules voted 5-2 on Tuesday to suspend the rules for 30 days.The committee now must draft a bill supporting the suspension.

The panel has drafted a measure that would require the PSC to develop new rules within six months

More local coverage of the wind-siting rules suspension: Wind farms in Wisconsin is dealt a setback, wind power supporters say (WSJ)

Beyond the Climate Wars:

Why the Left and Right Can Agree on Energy Innovation

Featuring: Breakthrough Institute Founders
Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger

Thursday, February 24, 2011
7:00-8:30pm
Howard Auditorium, The Fluno Center
Event Website

Please Register Online before the event to confirm a spot.

Sponsored by UW Energy Institute, WAGE Governing Global Energy Collaborative, Energy Hub, and Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies

Overview:

On February 24th at UW-Madison, Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus of The Breakthrough Institute will present their vision for “post-partisan power”, centered on an aggressive and unprecedented increase to $25 billion in federal funding to accelerate energy innovation.  Their joint proposal with the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution calls on the Left to stop insisting on carbon caps and the Right to stop opposing increased federal investment.  They argue that the collapse of the Kyoto and cap-and-trade climate policy regimes creates new opportunities for bipartisan action focused on energy innovation.

Michael and Ted are co-authors of the seminal essay, “The Death of Environmentalism” and the award-winning book, Break Through.  Their commentary on global energy policy is a distinct voice in the modern energy conversation.  Their approach is often seen as enlightened and pragmatic – for a recent and relevant example, see a recent blog entry called “Why Climate Science Divides Us But Energy Technology Unites Us.”

Contact: For more information, contact UW Energy Institute Research and Education Coordinator Scott Williams by e-mail or (608) 890-2199.

Click to download the PDF flyer:

Breakthrough Fellowship/Internship

Michael and Ted will also be interested in talking to students about their Breakthrough Generation summer fellowship program.  This is a unique opportunity to get involved in some of the most innovating energy policy thinking around.  Click the link!

SAGE’s Weston Roundtable Series continues this semester with several excellent talks:

“The Role of Recycled Materials in Sustainable Infrastructure”
Prof. Craig Benson
Geological Engineering and Civil & Environmental Engineering, UW-Madison 

Thursday, January 27, 2011
4:15-5:15pm, 1106 Mechanical Engineering Building
Tea/cookies from 4:00-4:15pm

Energy Hub Spring 2011 Kickoff Meeting

7:00PM, Thursday, January 27

Tong Auditorium, Engineering Centers Building
1550 Engineering Drive, Madison, WI

FREE PIZZA!

Click to Attend this event on Facebook
(this helps us determine how much pizza to order)

Join Energy Hub as we begin the semester exploring one of the most attention-grabbing energy issues of the past decade.  In this two-part lecture, eHub member Justin Bloesch and retired-CIA/Madison Peak Oil Group member David Knuti will give an introduction and history of the Peak Oil concept and an update on the global response to tightening oil supplies, volatile prices, climate change pressures, and growing international tensions over oil – the master resource in the ‘business as usual’ global economy.

eHub is aware that Peak Oil is among the most controversial issues in the modern energy debate.  Economists, oilmen, climate scientists, policymakers, businesses and citizens all have competing ideas on how the future of oil will play out.  Your opinions and ideas are welcome in our conversation, so don’t hesitate to share them!

The talk will begin at 7pm.  Join us at 6:45 for pizza and soft drinks.  The meeting is open to all students.

Contact: Nathan Pinney, npinney@wisc.edu

The New York Times Green Blog article “Hold That Megawatt!” gives a quick overview of some grid-scale energy storage technologies that are being implemented in 2011.  Among the promising technologies – lithium-iron battery banks and carbon-fiber flywheels.

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.