Climate Forward:
A New Road Map
for Wisconsin’s Climate and Energy Future
Wisconsin Academy Road Map Preview 4-22-14
Starting the
Conversation
Innovators Showcase
Milwaukee, WI
Communication Challenges
Madison, WI
Charting a Way Forward
Ashland, WI
Project Guiding Principles
 Reduce
Wisconsin’s
greenhouse gas emissions;
foster natural carbon storage
healthy and resilient
people, environments, and
economies
 Be
both practical and
effective
Urban Sea Star/flickr.com
 Sustain
Climate Change
Wisconsin Impacts

Floods, droughts, polluted runoff
(extreme weather)

Lower lake levels, more rain and snow

Warm weather pests

Heat related illness; loss of dairy
productivity

Loss of native species and ecosystem
services, including forest impacts
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, May 6, 2014

Heavy coal dependence

Natural gas is the current,
economically-driven, “bridge” fuel

One remaining nuclear plant in WI

5.4% of total WI energy and 10.2% of
electrical power comes from
renewables (and half of that comes
from outside WI)

Wisconsin sends $15.9 billion out of the
state every year to buy fuel and energy
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, May 6, 2014
Milwaukee Energy Efficiency (Me2)
Our Challenging
Wisconsin Energy Portfolio
Negative Results from
Business as Usual

Electrical rates are likely to become among
the most expensive in the region

Wisconsin will be highly vulnerable to any
eventual price set on carbon

Renewable development and jobs will go to
other states (already are)

Neighboring states gain competitive edge
Five Pathways to Progress
and conservation
 Renewable
energy
 Smarter
transportation systems
 Natural
carbon storage
 21st
century innovations
Wisconsin communities,
corporations, farms, and families
are already moving forward.
alexsl/istock
 Efficiency
Conservation & Efficiency

“Easy” but incremental steps

Bottom line already drives
business efficiencies

Big opportunities in retrofits,
lighting, process, and design

Strive for 2 percent increase in
efficiency every year
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, May 6, 2014

West CAP retrofits

Johnson Controls

Quad/Graphics

Newenhouse Kit Homes

Quad/Graphics

Miller Coors
Many more
Photos: Jim Klousia, m.gensler.com
Conservation &
Efficiency Leaders

Embrace solar
Competitive prices for homes and
buildings

Smart biomass
Digesters and co-generation close
to sources

Strategic wind
Careful siting, increasingly efficient
turbines, learn from Minnesota and
Iowa

Strive for 1-to-1.5% increase in
renewable generation annually
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, May 6, 2014
Milwaukee Office of Environmental Sustainability
Renewable Energy
Renewable Energy
Leaders
 City
of Milwaukee
 City
of Monona
 SC
Johnson
 Emerald
Dairy
Photos: Kurt Reinhold, Heidi Clausen/Eau Claire Leader Telegram
Smarter Transportation

Emission standards/cleaner fuels

Connect transportation to landuse decision-making

Reduce congestion & manage
demand: ride-sharing, truck ports,
fleet strategies
Andrew Porter/imagesource.com

Smart freight and marine systems

Diversify transportation choices
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, May 6, 2014
Transportation
Leaders
Trip
kwiktrip.com
 Kwik
 City
of Madison
cityofmadison.com
 Schneider
Natural Carbon Storage
 Dairy
Grazing
Apprenticeship: pasture
conservation
 Fountain
Prairie Farms:
wetland and prairie
restoration
dairygrazingapprenticeship.org
 Public
and private forest
conservation
travelwisconsin.com
Game-Changing Attributes
 Leadership
from the top
 Teamwork
 Baselines
and Metrics
 Co-conservation
across products and processes,
energy, water, materials
 Public-private
 Telling
partnerships
the story
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, May 6, 2014
Leaders in the Vanguard
of BIG CHANGE
 Gundersen
System
 Organic
CROPP
Health
Valley-
 Milwaukee
Metropolitan
Sewerage District
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, May 6, 2014
Wisconsin Needs to Have this
Conversation
 What
kind of Wisconsin do we
want to live in 10 years? In 50
years?
 How
do we better use our
capacities?
 The
vanguard “gets it.” How
do we spread the word?
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, May 6, 2014
 Improve
efficiency by 2% each year
 Increase renewables by 1-1.5% annually
 Modernize and diversify transportation
 Keep carbon in the soil
 21st century sustainable business models
 Inform, educate and engage the public
Photo: Rolf Brenner/imagesource.com
80% reduction of
fossil fuel emissions
by 2050:
www.wisconsinacademy.org/climateforward
Some specific options
 Expand
energy
retrofits for buildings
 Encourage
benchmarking
 Update building
codes
 Mandate renewable
increase
 Tax credits or loans for
co-generation
 Allow
third-party
renewable own/lease
option
 High-speed rail from
Chicago to Twin
Cities
 RTA initiatives
 Expand research in
soil carbon storage
Profiles of the Vangaurd
 Gunderson Health System
 Kwik Trip
 City of Madison
 West CAP
 City of Monona
 Quad/Graphics
 City of Milwaukee
 Emerald Dairy
 Schneider
 St. Croix Valley Eco-
 CROPP/Organic Valley
 SC Johnson
 Newenhouse Kit Homes
Village Project
 MillerCoors
 Milwaukee Municipal
Sewerage District
 Johnson Controls
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, May 6, 2014
Primary Contributors








Ash
Anandanarayanan

Kathy Kuntz
Peter Bakken

Michelle Miller
Meg Domroese

Keith Reopelle
Tom Eggert

Mary Schlaefer
Jane Elder

Stan Temple
Brenna Holzhauer

Roy Thilly

Xin Wang

Don Wichert
John Imes
Peter Kilde
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, May 6, 2014