Energy on my Mind

 Northwestern Energy is considering building a natural gas fired electrical generating plant adjacent to the Mill Creek substation near Anaconda. They are considering a plant in the 120 to 220 MW range, which would help stabilize their existing power lines and firm up the power produced by wind generation. If the plant is built, construction will probably begin in 2009, with a completion date of 2010. It is expected to cost more than $100 million, and employ 10 full-time workers after construction is complete.Northwestern has also retained the service of Credit Suisse to evaluate their “strategic options” with regard to their stake in the Colstrip 4 plant. Northwestern leased this power until 2007, when they purchased 222 MW outright. Approximately 40% of this power is used in Montana, with another 40% shipped to the Seattle area. The Montana Consumer Council believes that Northwestern violated the terms of the 2004 agreement that brought the company out of bankruptcy when they purchased this power without first receiving permission from the Montana Public Service Commission.

The Heartland Institute recently hosted the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change, subtitled “Global Warming is Not A Crisis.” The intent of the conference was clearly aimed at debunking the “myth” of global warming.

With presentations like “Oceans, Not Carbon Dioxide, Are Driving Climate” by William Gray, and “Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate” by S. Fred Singer, the conference was cleverly designed to downplay the impacts that industrial emissions are having on our climate. Singer, a George Mason University professor who has long railed against “junk science” showing tobacco smoke causes lung cancer, and sun exposure causes melanoma, is now intent on proving humans are not responsible for climate change. “Most climate change is natural,” he contends. The human contribution is not significant. Therefore, climate change is unstoppable.” In other words, Don’t Worry. Be happy.

For more information on the sponsorship of this conference by large tobacco and oil companies, see http://www.prwatch.org/node/7072. A list of the sponsors of this conference (mostly industry front groups with innocuous sounding names) can be found at: http://www.heartland.org/NewYork08/sponsorships.cfm.

Tax time is here, and many folks don’t realize that there are federal and state tax credits available for energy conservation projects and the production of renewable energy. The Federal government has a tax credit for businesses that install solar, wind, microturbines, or fuel cells. This credit is due to drop to 10% by the end of this year, but currently the credit is set at 30% to encourage the installation of solar, wind, and fuel cells. More information can be found at www.energy.gov/taxbreaks.htm

The Montana Department of Revenue offers incentives for individuals and corporations. Individuals can get an income tax credit worth 25% of their investment in qualifying renewable energy projects for their home or other building, up to $500. Individuals can also qualify for an Alternative Energy Systems Credit for installing solar panels, windmills, pellet stoves, biomass generators, or other forms of renewable energy. Both individuals and corporations can qualify for tax credits for converting a vehicle to alternate fuels, crushing oilseeds, production and blending of biofuels and a number of other activities that may save energy. There is even a tax credit for equipment used to manufacture materials from recycled goods. While most of the above credits apply to income tax, there is a property tax exemption for the installation of non-fossil fuel generating systems in homes and businesses. More information can be found at www.mt.gov/revenue/energyconservation. For information on other states, check out the Database of state incentives for renewable energy at www.dsireusa.org.

According to an article in today’s Washington Post, professor Andreas Schmittner of Oregon State is predicting that if carbon emissions continue to rise, by 2100 the earth’s average temperatures will be more than 7 degrees (Fahrenheit) warmer than prior to industrialization. Most scientists agree that a temperature change of this magnitude will be catastrophic for humans. Schmittner said. “I was struck by the fact that the warming continues much longer even after emissions have declined.

In a separate study, Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institute found that the only way to keep the earth from further warming involves, “a much more radical change to our energy system than people are thinking about.”

While half of human carbon emissions naturally dissipate within a century, a significant percentage of carbon emissions will last for thousands of years.

Caldeira and his co-author, University of Montreal researcher H. Damon Matthews, wrote “each unit of CO2 emissions must be viewed as leading to quantifiable and essentially permanent climate change on centennial timescales.”

• Caldeira and Matthews paper was published in Geophysical Research Letters - http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/ .
• Schmittner’s article appeared in Global Biogeochemical Cycles - http://www.agu.org/journals/gb/

On Thursday, Two Dot Wind LLC of Billings asked the Montana Public Service Commission to reject Northwestern Energy’s plan to charge what they feel is an exorbitant integration fee to add power from the company’s wind generators into Northwestern’s electrical grid. Northwestern’s position is that if they are required to buy the four megawatts of power generated by Two Dot Wind at Martinsdale and Livingston, they will also need to purchase an equal amount of regulating reserve power to make up for times when the wind isn’t blowing, and that Two Dot Wind should be responsible for paying for the extra costs of integrating that power output. Two Dot Wind and representatives of other small wind generating companies contend that the cost of integrating their power into the grid is small, and that they should not have to pay unless Northwestern comes up with a study that shows the actual cost. They fear that if the Public Service Commission allows the higher cost, wind energy companies will abandon projects in Montana in favor of neighboring states with lower integration costs. Two Dot Wind was founded by Billings doctor David Healow, and owns wind turbines at the Martinsdale Hutterite Colony and just north of Two Dot. More information on Two Dot Wind LLC can be found at: http://twodotwind.com/.

The Helena Independent Record article by Mike Dennison on this story can be found at www.helenair.com/articles/2008/03/07/top/55st_080307_wind.txt

Jay Toups of the Big Sky Coalition reported a successful turnout at last weekend’s symposium on biomass production in Hamilton. Some 250 attendees heard presentations on bio-energy, turning woody fuel into power, plasma conversion technology, turning manure into methane, bio-fuels from algae. There was also a presentation on America’s energy future by a member of the 25×25 Organization, which hopes to generate 25% of America’s energy needs from bio-fuels by the year 2025. Most of these presentations can be viewed at: http://www.bigskycoalition.org.

The estimated 120 billion tons of coal that lie beneath the Montana soil constitute the nation’s largest coal reserves, although actual production in the Treasure State is only one-tenth of coal production in Wyoming, even though Montana has nearly twice the coal reserves of our neighbor to the south. Most coal mined in the state is low-sulfur sub-bituminous in the Powder River Basin, primarily in Big Horn and Rosebud Counties

New coal plants face a daunting set of hurdles before they produce their first watt of electricity. Although more than 150 coal-fired plants have been proposed for the United States in the past decade, only 10 have been built, with another 25 under construction. Almost 60 have been cancelled outright, often due to concerns from increasing regulation designed to head off global warming, skyrocketing construction costs, and a reluctance by Wall Street firms to finance what is becoming an increasingly unpopular form of energy investment.

Nevertheless, Gov. Schweitzer continues to believe coal development will play an important role in Montana’s energy future. According to his website, “Montana is actively pursuing development of ultra-clean coal technology in the areas of our major coal deposits in central and eastern Montana.” The governor envisions using Montana coal to produce syngas, a mixture of gases that can be made into liquid fuel, burned in power plants, or refined into natural gas. Supposedly, pollutants such as mercury and carbon dioxide can be removed from the gas.

A so-called Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle plant uses a process developed in Germany prior to World War II to convert coal into liquid fuels. South Africa reportedly produces 300,000 gallons of diesel and gasoline each day from this type plant. More information on his plan can be found at

http://governor.mt.gov/hottopics/faqsynthetic.asp

A new Harris poll reveals some clues about American’s attitudes regarding how much extra they are willing to pay for renewable energy. The poll surveyed more then 6,000 adults in the United States, Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany and France. While 40% of Americans were unwilling to pay more for renewable energy, 41% were willing to pay anywhere from 5 to 15% more. Citing a European Commission report that found that it would cost a homeowner an additional $220 per month in energy to cut greenhouse emissions, the poll asked how likely people would be willing to pay this increased cost each month. Surprisingly, almost 30% of Americans thought it at least somewhat likely they would be willing to pay the additional $2,640 per year. Fifty-three percent of Americans favored a higher tax on cars that emit more carbon, while 78% preferred to reduce taxes on lower emission cars. A majority of Americans favored building new nuclear power plants, but most did not favor subsidizing them with taxpayer dollars, although they did favor a government subsidy for producing biofuels. The country may have mixed feelings about higher energy prices, tax breaks, and subsidies, but an overwhelming 92% of Americans favored building more wind farms. The poll can be found at http://www.harrisinteractive.com.

The Missoulian today reported that despite an announcement last week by Sen. Max Baucus, BP Canada is still interested in drilling for coal-bed methane in the Flathead Valley just north of Glacier National Park. A Baucus spokesman hinted that the company may have “lied to two US Senators.” BP Canada plans to drill in the adjacent Elk River drainage, in hopes of proving that they can one day drill in the pristine Flathead without impacting water quality. In the meantime, they plan to continue with environmental studies in preparation for future drilling. A subsidiary of British Petroleum, BP Canada is headquartered in Calgary. The Missoulian article quoted Canadian lawmaker Bill Bennett as saying ”the decision to remove the Flathead from the tenure process signals a recognition by our government that there is a difference between the Flathead drainage and the Elk drainage.” He went on to say The Flathead is, in fact, a very special place. I know that.”

The Big Sky Coalition, a Bitterroot-based organization that advocates large scale thinning on National Forest lands, plans to host a daylong symposium in Hamilton on March 1 to examine the conversion of woody biomass into ethanol and methanol, as well as burning it to generate heat and electricity. Executive Dir. Sonny LaSalle reported that the Darby school district is on track to save $100,000 on their energy bill this year by using biomass to heat their building. In Colorado, a plant is already being planned that will begin converting beetle-killed trees into cellulosic ethanol by 2012. The conference will take place all Saturday at the Hamilton, Montana fairgrounds.