Great Plains Institute for Sustainable Development

Carbon managementfossil fuels today provide the vast majority of our electricity, heating/cooling and transportation fuel (87% globally) and will likely continue to play a significant role for decades. Yet burning coal, oil, and natural gas is also a primary cause of global warming and climate change, and a range of other unintended and negative outcomes. Gpi works to develop market-based strategies for reducing harmful fossil fuel emissions and effective transition strategies for industries and communities that depend on fossil fuels. Focus areas include: expanding education, dialogue and outreach on federal carbon regulation implementation by convening and facilitating the stakeholder groups of the midcontinent states environmental and energy regulators (mseer), pjm states group, and the midwestern power sector collaborative (mpsc); helping shape the national discourse surrounding the clean power plan by presenting to numerous groups and conferences around the us; and supporting the deployment of carbon capture and sequestration with enhanced oil recovery (ccs-eor) through incentives and education by convening of the national enhanced oil recovery initiative (neori) and the state ccs-eor group.

Transportation and fuelsgpi focuses on two main strategies for reducing our dependence on foreign oil and greenhouse gases in the transportation sector; less polluting, domestic fuels (electricity, biofuels, cng, biocng and hydrogen); and reducing the need for driving through better urban design. Priorities include: convening the bioeconomy coalition of Minnesota making mn the best place in the world to site the Development of advanced biofuel, renewable chemical, and biomass thermal industries; facilitating drive electric Minnesota a statewide electric vehicle partnership working to expand electric vehicle ownership and public charging infrastructure (this may expand to a regional midwestern effort); and collaborating with argonne national lab to make the greenhouse gases, regulated emissions, and energy use in transportation model (greet) more robust and user-friendly.

Energy systemsgpi envisions an economy that is increasingly electrified (including transportation and heating), and an energy system that relies heavily on renewable resources (wind, solar, hydro, biomass, geothermal) and a robust transmission system that can move clean electricity from one part of the country to another. An electric grid designed for central station power plants and a significant shortage of regional transmission lines that can move large amounts of remote renewable energy have become key barriers to meeting more of our energy needs with renewable resources (e.g., wind and solar). Gpi's focus areas include: 1) working with the midcontinent independent system operator to increase the deployment of renewable electricity, improve the market rules for demand response and integrate the full range of distributed energy resources; 2) working with utilities and other key interests to realign the utility business model and regulatory framework to more effectively achieve a low-carbon energy system and meet evolving consumer demands (this includes gpi's nation-leading e21 initiative and related work with madison gas and electric).