Air Matters, June 2009

Volume 4, Issue 3

Bureau of Air Management
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
PO Box 7921
Madison WI 53707

• Eco-Driving in Milwaukee
• Greening Up Energy Production and Transmission
• Federal Actions to Address Climate Change
• Come One, Come All-Stars

Eco-Driving in Milwaukee
By Lindsay Haas

If you happen to be driving around Milwaukee and see a City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works vehicle, pay attention -- they might be eco-driving.

Let's face it, we all need to get places. Whether for work or our personal lives, we all need to get around and sometimes mass transit cannot get us there. Our goal then should be to get to our location in the most ecologically friendly way possible.

So what is eco-driving? It's simple. Eco-driving is using common sense, driving slower, and paying more attention to the road and the other drivers around you. Some of the concepts of eco-driving include:

• No jack-rabbit starts - accelerate smoothly from a stop,
• Do not let your engine idle,
• Try to time stop lights so you do not have to come to a complete stop and accelerate from zero miles per hour,
• Keep your tires properly inflated,
• Trip chain - combine all of your short trips into one long trip, and
• Drive the speed limit.

These are just a few of the concepts taught in the pilot program, Fleet Training on Eco-Driving project. On Friday, May 29, the City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works became the first fleet to graduate 16 employees from the Fleet Training on Eco-Driving project. DNR received a Federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant (CMAQ) to promote eco-driving in the air quality non-attainment area of Wisconsin in hopes of lowering vehicle emissions and in turn improving air quality. After receiving the CMAQ grant, DNR contracted with Wisconsin Clean Cities - Southeast Area to help create a curriculum for training two fleets in the non-attainment area. Clean Cities then partnered with Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) and Bradley Fons, of the Milwaukee Hybrid Group, to create the curriculum and behind-the-wheel training.

Two fleets participate

Two fleets were chosen to participate in the Fleet Training on Eco-Driving project. The two fleets are the City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works and Veolia Water - Milwaukee.

• Milwaukee DPW [exit DNR] just finished their training and were able to increase their fleet’s average mile per gallon from 12.9 to 14.2 -- a 10.42% increase. It is important to note that these statistics were also taken over the winter when gas mileage tends to decrease due to weather conditions.
• Veolia Water - Milwaukee [exit DNR] is currently in the middle of training and already showing signs of improvement for their fleet’s average miles per gallon too.

Not only does eco-driving create more aware drivers, but it reduces the amount of pollution emitted into the air and decreases the fuel consumption of the vehicle. It’s a win-win all around.

Haas is an air quality educator in the DNR Bureau of Education & Information.

Greening Up Energy Production and Transmission
By Lindsay Haas

We expect a room will illuminate when we turn the lights on, and that our cell phones will be charged and ready for use after plugging in the charger. And who doesn’t love to come home to a nice cool air-conditioned house in the middle of summer? We all enjoy the comforts of electricity more then we probably realize, but when was the last time you thought about where that energy comes from?

We Energies

The employees at We Energies think about energy production all the time; it’s what they do. Not only does We Energies produce electricity for 1.13 million customers, but they try to focus on doing what is right for the environment while producing our energy. “Environmental Stewardship is part of the culture at We Energies,” said Kristine Krause, Vice President - Environmental.

One way We Energies considers the environment is by preparing for wind power to become a larger source of energy in Wisconsin. In 2008, the wind generation facility Blue Sky Green Field (145 megawatt capacity) became operational. Currently, We Energies is seeking approval for a new wind generation facility that would have a 207 megawatt capacity.

In addition to adding more wind generation to their power grid, We Energies is also proud of their pollution prevention technologies. The company has been able to significantly reduce sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury emissions at many of their facilities as well as a pilot project to determine the feasibility of capturing carbon dioxide at their Pleasant Prairie Power Plant. Also, ash fuel, the remaining product after coal has been burned for energy production, has new life at We Energies. With We Energies’ patented reburn of ash fuel, nearly 800,000 tons of high carbon ash, which would historically been landfilled, has been reburned as fuel; this equates to nearly 2,500 rail cars of coal. And it gets better: The fly ash, what is left over after the reburn of the ash fuel bi-product, is then used for concrete production. This reburn of ash fuel has been so successful that an ash reburn system is being designed as part of the new units under construction at the Oak Creek plant. According to Irissol Arce of We Energies, “What was once considered to be waste becomes a resource.”

We Energies encourages energy efficiency among its customers by providing their own programs and by supporting the statewide Focus on Energy program [exit DNR]. “Energy Efficiency is the lowest cost resource that a customer can purchase and many conservation measures are low or no cost,” according to Arce. Examples of these conservation measures are turning off lights and computers when not in use and adjusting temperature setting for heat and air conditioning when no one is home. We Energies also provides energy efficiency programs for small businesses and larger customers that are looking to reduce their energy consumption.

For information about We Energies, visit these web pages (the next six links exit DNR):

• We Energies website
• Blue Sky Green Field wind generation facility [PDF]
• Energy-efficiency programs for small businesses
• Carbon dioxide capture project at Pleasant Prairie power plant [PDF]
• Oak Creek power plant [PDF]

American Transmission Company

American Transmission Company (ATC) began operations on January 1, 2008 with the purpose of transmitting power from generation facilities to customers. This work includes fixing and replacing old power transmission lines and erecting new lines. While doing this work, ATC recognizes that there is an impact on the environment. ATC's goal is to “avoid making impacts where we can, minimize those that can’t be avoided and restore the environment” (ATC 2008 Annual Report).

A few examples of the environmental restoration ATC completed in 2008 are:

• Worked with the Ruffed Grouse Society on the Cranberry-Conover project planting native vegetation.
• Worked with We Energies and the Friends of the Cedarburg Bog to erect an osprey platform on an old electric pole which lead to the first pair of nesting osprey in Ozaukee County in more than 50 years.

To reduce environmental impacts, ATC is also using fly ash in their concrete. By using fly ash, instead of the cement they had planned on, carbon dioxide emissions are eliminated. In just two projects using fly ash, ATC was able to avoid emitting over 3 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions (2008 Annual Report).

ATC is also a member of the Wisconsin Green Tier program. ATC was the first utility and one of the first five organizations to be accepted into the program. Being a participant in the Green Tier program shows that ATC demonstrates superior environmental performance, is dedicated to continual improvement, and has a strong environmental compliance record.

As part of the Green Tier program, ATC established an Environmental Stewardship Fund and contributes $300,000 annually. The funds are administered through the Natural Resources Foundation for work with endangered species, education and outreach, community-based conservation, and habitat protection and restoration.

For more information about American Transmission Company see:

• ATC website [exit DNR]
• ATC 2008 annual report [PDF, exit DNR]

Haas is an air quality educator in the DNR Bureau of Education & Information.

Federal Actions to Address Climate Change
By Ed Jepsen

The federal government has been busy over the last six months with a number of actions to address climate change and energy issues. These federal actions include the Supreme Court’s finding that greenhouse gases are covered by the Clean Air Act as well as several EPA proposed rules and other various bills introduced in Congress. These federal actions may substantially influence state level actions and implementation of the final recommendations from Governor Doyle’s Global Warming Task Force.

Endangerment Finding [exit DNR] -- The US Supreme Court found that greenhouse gases (GHGs) are air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act. The Court indicated the EPA Administrator must determine whether emissions of GHGs contribute to air pollution endangering public health or welfare. The EPA is proposing that six key greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)) are threatening public health and welfare.

Proposed Mandatory GHG Reporting Rule [exit DNR] -- The proposed rule by EPA will require regulated sources to report their 2010 emissions of the six major GHGs (listed above). This will be the first source level inventory of GHG emissions in the United States and will cover about 85 percent of GHG emissions in the US.

Renewable Fuels Mandate [exit DNR] -- The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 required EPA to revise the Renewable Fuel Standard program to increase the volume of renewable fuel blended into gasoline from 9 billion gallons in 2008 to 36 billion gallons by 2022. Life cycle analysis of GHG emissions will be a critical element in assessing these fuels.

Fuel Economy Standards [exit DNR] -- The EPA and the U.S. Department of Transportation are to develop a federal GHG reduction and fuel economy improvement program for passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty passenger vehicles by the 2012 model year. The rules will include compliance flexibility tools such as averaging, banking and trading of credits.

Clean Air Act Waiver to Increase Allowable Ethanol Content of Gasoline from 10 percent to 15 percent [exit DNR] -- U.S. ethanol producers have requested EPA increase the maximum allowable ethanol content of gasoline from 10 to 15 percent. The proposal is generating substantial comments from a broad array of interests.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act - US House of Representatives bill HR 2454 [exit DNR] -- The Waxman-Markey bill has provisions similar to the GWTF recommendations, but it is more expansive and is national/international in scope. The bill provides a declining limit on GHG emissions and covers a variety of mitigation (new power plant emissions, auto emissions, fuels, cap and trade/allocations/credits/offsets, etc) and adaptation issues. It is more stringent than the EPA mandatory GHG reporting bill described above (e.g., it includes additional GHGs and requires more sources to report).

If you have questions or comments about this article, please contact Ed Jepsen (e-mail edward.jepsen@wisconsin.gov or phone 608.266.3538).

Ed Jepsen is an Air Management Specialist and is located in Madison.

Come One, Come All-Stars

Join the Wisconsin Partners for Clean Air (WPCA) in celebrating clean air achievements at the 2009 Clean Air All Star Extravaganza. This grand slam event will take place on July 14th from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at Miller Park’s Aaron Room in Milwaukee.

Partners and other business and government representatives from across the state will honor the 2008 WPCA Recognition Award winners and Commuter Champion, recognize the accomplishments of all previous award winners and discover the grand revitalization of the Menomonee Valley.

For more details, please see the Clean Air Extravaganza flyer [exit DNR]. RSVP by June 30th by contacting Peter McMullen at 414.263.8751 or peter.mcmullen@wisconsin.gov.

Air Matters || Air Management