Wisconsin Energy Broadcast Wisconsin Energy Broadcast

Energy storage is rapidly changing the market for renewable power.  Business and residential customers are turning toward batteries to have a reliable back-up energy system.  Large scale developers use battery power to smooth out the power generation.

On this episode of the Wisconsin Energy Broadcast we are airing a Battery Storage breakout session from the January 16, 2020 Renewable Energy Summit held at the Monona Terrace in Madison, Wisconsin.  The accompanying slides and the full audio recording are available at renewwisconsin.org.

The short slide presentation includes energy storage terminology, system design and models of how the combination of solar + storage can smooth variations into hourly firm blocks and reduce energy imbalances.  These slides may enhance your enjoyment as you listen to this presentation from the energy storage experts.

The experts featured in tonights episode are Steve Danbeck, Arch Electric, Inc., Kate Howling, Invenergy, Tom Mullooly, Foley and Lardner & Tim Wilson of Gunderson Health Systems.

 

Agriculture in the U.S. represents about 9% of total greenhouse gas emissions.  But new research suggests that improvements in dairy farm operations could reduce those emissions by up to 30 or 40%.

Dr. Matthew Ruark shares the results of the multi-university, $10 million research report on dairy and greenhouse gas emissions.  The report titled “Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Diary Production Systems of the Great Lakes Region: Dairy Coordinated Agricultural Project” shares research on reducing emissions from all stages of dairy production.  Find this report and more at sustainabledairy.org.

Dr. Ruark shares information about strategies farmers can use to increase carbon and organic matter in the soil (to retain water and supply more nutrients).   Farmers can return carbon to soil with manure additions, high biomass crops, and adding cover crops.  And farmers can keep the carbon in place in the soil by reducing tillage and soil disturbances.

Visit the virtualfarm to learn how the different parts of a dairy farm and the emissions tradeoffs of conservation practices on a farm.





A series of factsheets about dairy production developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison are available on this website. 

Katherine Hamilton, Chair, 38 North Solutions is coming to Madison to headline the RENEW Wisconsin Renewable Energy Summit on January 16, 2020.   Heather talks with Katherine about trends in federal policy and global economic drivers as they relate to renewables.  They discuss solar tax credits, trends in electricity storage and efforts by states to develop forward looking clean energy policies.

In her keynote address at the Wisconsin Renewable Energy Summit,  Katherine will offer a global perspective on clean energy before zeroing in on Wisconsin’s role, opportunity, and strategies for advancing this industry.

Katherine has been listed on the #Solar100 board by kWh Analytics and received a Cleanie Award as Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018. Katherine served as President of the GridWise Alliance, advocating for nearly $5 billion in funding for smart grid projects in the Recovery Act.

At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Katherine led buildings research and then managed government relations in Washington, DC. Katherine spent a decade at Virginia Power, designing overhead and underground electrical systems for commercial and residential developments.  Katherine studied electrical engineering at Northern Virginia Community College and holds degrees from Cornell University and the Sorbonne. Katherine is part of The Energy Gang podcast through Greentech Media.

Community solar projects offer utility customers a simple way to go solar by signing up for a program to procure their energy from a large scale solar project offered by the utility.  Community solar is a great alternative if you want to go solar but you may not have the perfect roof to install solar.

Renters, small businesses, or people who don’t want to make a major upfront investment invest in community solar projects by buying shares or buying panels (depending on the details of the program).

Deb Erwin, Manager of Regulatory Policy at Xcel Energy stops by the studio to talk about community solar projects in MN and WI and how they are different.

Kaya Freiman and Jillian Page of Madison Gas and Electric talk about MGE’s Shared Solar  program and how you can tap into this new opportunity to go solar.  The shared solar program allows business and residential customers to buy shares of the solar project to meet up to 50% of their annual electricity usage.  Learn more at the shared solar program website.

 

Energy reporter Chris Hubbuch of the Wisconsin State Journal joins the Wisconsin Energy Broadcast to discuss Evers new 100% clean energy goal for Wisconsin and all the major energy developments in the last twelve months.

This is the two year anniversary of the Wisconsin Energy Broadcast!  And we are enormously grateful to you, our listeners.  As a big thank you for listening, we are covering all the highlights from the last year.  Listen to this episode and get updates on the:

Cardinal Hickory Creek Transmission Line

The We Energies Rate Case

The dropped proposal for a new solar tax from We Energies

The Badger Hollow Solar Farm approval and the Two Creeks Solar Farm groundbreaking

And Governor Evers’ announcement of a 100% clean energy goal.   It has been a big year and Chris Hubbuch puts it all in perspective for the Wisconsin Energy Broadcast.

Renewable Energy and Health

Jessica LeClair, Public Health Nurse and Clinical Instructor at the UW-Madison School of Nursing, joined us in the studio to talk about why she works at the nexus of health and environment, her experience going solar with Madisunsolar.com, and her passion for promoting health equity.

If you want to go solar on your home, business or non-profit, the City of Madison’s MadiSUN program has rebates, resources, and information to make it easy and affordable.  Listen to Jessica’s experience on this episode and check out a quick video here to see how it works.

The City has additional rebates and grants to help businesses, nonprofits and affordable housing providers go solar.

Health Equity

Our community recognizes that access to clean energy and the impacts of fossil fuel energy generation have a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable among us.  Jessica relates how her work with local families dealing with the long-term effects of the 2008 floods influenced her career focus on health equity.  Check out the resources below to see how you can learn more about efforts to address disparate impacts of climate change on our community.

Health Equity Resources



* Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments – Global Nurses Climate Change Committee

* Health Impacts of Energy Choices

* Healthcare without Harm

* Wisconsin Environmental Health Network

* HealthEquityGuide.org