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Doyle wants money for renewable fuels to stay hereBy Jenny Price
Gov. Jim Doyle wants state government to promote renewable energy sources like biofuels so more of that money stays here and gives Wisconsin's economy a boost. That includes fuel derived from corn, soybeans and forest product waste and even energy generated from manure. Doyle's plan would invest $40 million in promoting renewable energy, including grants and loans to companies working on new renewable energy technology and $2 million in tax credits for gas stations that install biodiesel and ethanol pumps. The proposal includes $5 million to help fund the country's first cellulosic ethanol plant, which could turn wood, wood waste, and other plants such as switch grass into fuel. "There's not going to be a wasted piece of anything we grow. ... We're going to use everything," said Gary Radloff, a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, which is taking the lead on biofuels among state agencies. The proposal sprung, in part, from a group the governor appointed last year to examine what advantages Wisconsin has in the bioeconomy. "What clearly emerged is the fact we're a diverse state," Radloff said. "We're not just like Iowa with rows and rows of corn for ethanol." The governor wants to distribute $30 million through the Energy Independence Grant and Loan Program to speed up the commercialization of renewable energy technologies. The administration contends the program will attract up to $300 million in investment from the private sector. "What the state does, in many ways, is underwrite risk with low interest loans or grants," Radloff said. "It encourages innovation." The push for biofuels has its detractors. Proposed ethanol plants have sparked lawsuits and concern over water usage and air pollution. And some critics argue converting corn or other bio sources to fuel uses more energy than the fuel provides. Supporters counter those arguments are based on old data. Doyle wants Wisconsin to garner 10 percent of the market share for the production of renewable energy sources by 2030. That would contribute $13.5 billion a year to the state economy and 17,000 high-paying energy and fuel jobs, state officials estimate. The projected economic benefit is based on what would happen if the state stopped the steady flow of money spent on fuel and energy from outside Wisconsin, a situation the state Division of Energy has classified as a "significant drain" on the state's economy. Total energy expenditures in the state reached a record high of $18.5 billion in 2005. More than $12 billion, or about $5,500 per household, left Wisconsin. If Doyle gets his way, it would be easier for drivers in Wisconsin to fill up the tank with alternative fuels. The state would provide tax credits up to $5,000 per pump to locally owned gas stations or private fleet operators that install renewable fuel pumps. Currently, the state has about 65 stations with E-85 pumps and 14 with biodiesel pumps; the governor claims his plan would add 400 new pumps. "That's going to drive the market," Radloff said. "Once you've got it out there to people, they're going to use it." Seven years ago, Wisconsin wasn't producing any ethanol. Now its output is pushing 200 million gallons per year. By 2010, it's expected to top 600 million gallons, Radloff said. Wisconsin's biodiesel production is in the 1 to 2 million gallons per year range now and could reach 115 million gallons per year in the same time frame, he said. "The market is developing so rapidly," he said. The Capital Region already has three ethanol plants and two biodiesel plants, with more than a half-dozen others on the drawing board, according to DATCP. Efforts to produce renewable energy have benefited companies like Apache Stainless Equipment Corp. in Beaver Dam. About one-fourth of its work is devoted to producing ethanol equipment, company officials have reported. Still, Radloff said ethanol is a "first stage technology." "A lot of the focus today is on ethanol," he said. "I think, fairly quickly, you're going to see what we call the more full-scale bio refineries (that) will produce from multiple feed stocks." Jenny Price is a Madison freelance writer. jenny.price@gmail.com madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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