The move away from dependence on foreign oil and towards sustainable domestic sources of energy offers Wisconsin a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create new jobs, strengthen our agriculture, manufacturing, timber and forest industries, while protecting our state’s vast natural resources.
Gov. Jim Doyle understands that investing in renewable energy today is a wise investment for our state. His budget proposal to invest $30 million in renewable energy projects will not only reduce Wisconsin energy dependence and protect our environment, but help create over 60,000 new jobs with a direct impact of $384 million per year to Wisconsin.
Wisconsin is already well-positioned to become a leader in renewable energy. The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded the UW-Madison a $125 million grant to create the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. One of only three sites in the country, the center will explore how to convert cornstalks, wood chips, grass and other plant material into fuel for cars and power plants. Governor Doyle’s proposal will help support ground-breaking research by Wisconsin’s world-class scientists and research companies. It will also develop and bring research into commercial application, spawning new companies and products.
But investing in renewable energy now won’t just benefit Wisconsin’s researchers, it will also create jobs and strengthen Wisconsin’s rural economy, especially its farms and factories. Wisconsin generates nearly 15 million tons of biomass each year that if converted into energy would produce the energy equivalent to 3.5 million tons of coal or 50 percent of Wisconsin’s total coal use and provide producers of biowaste with an additional revenue stream. For example, a single 3,000 cow dairy farm with an anaerobic manure digester can produce the electricity sufficient to support 600-700 homes.
The investment in renewable energy will also benefit nearly 38 percent of Wisconsin’s manufacturing jobs. The renewable energy funds will help Wisconsin’s farm, forestry, and bio-based equipment manufacturers, such as Johnson Controls, Nordic Power, Modine, and Tower Tech, build wind turbines, develop fuel cells, batteries and engines that run on renewable energy, and invent better ways to harvest biowaste. It will help Wisconsin’s beverage and food processing, paper, and printing industries diversify their product lines and/or save in energy costs by converting their waste streams into energy. For example, the conversion to a biomass-fueled boiler by a paper manufacturer would eliminate nearly 9,000 tons of coal burned per year and drastically reduce overall operating costs. Investing in renewable energy today will help Wisconsin’s manufacturers and their 190,000 employees rise to the challenges of succeeding in the new economy.
Wisconsin’s researchers, its farmers and forests, its factories and its manufacturers will benefit from the investment in renewable energy proposed by the governor. The future of the renewable energy funding now lies in the hands of the state Legislators, who must choose between turning their backs on Wisconsin’s farmers, manufacturers, researchers, and entrepreneurs or helping them make Wisconsin the renewable energy leader that it can – and should – be.
The time to invest is now. Wisconsin’s neighbors are already investing millions in renewable energy. In this fast-growth industry, Wisconsin can either lead or be left behind.
