The Midwest is home to a wealth of energy resources, which vary considerably by state. How those resources are deployed will impact the region’s economy, landscape, environment, and public health. A new online resource, The Power Almanac of the American Midwest, has been designed to allow you to flexibly and dynamically explore the region’s electric resources, opportunities, and challenges. We spoke with Rolf Nordstrom, Executive Director of the Great Plains Institute, to learn more.
Joel Haskard: How did the Power Almanac of the Midwest come about?
Rolf Nordstrom: The World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Great Plains Institute (GPI) have worked together since 2007 to help policymakers and a very diverse range of interests—from utilities and environmental groups to consumer advocates and businesses—develop common-sense, market-based energy policies. In the course of that work it became clear that there was no central repository for essential information about the Midwest’s electricity system—either its current state or future possibilities.
To address this need, in 2011 WRI approached GPI with the idea of combining their data skills and organizational reach and GPI’s Midwestern connections and experience to develop this new on-line tool.
Joel: Did anything jump out at you when you reviewed some of the data compiled?
Rolf: Even though I already knew that Minnesota has no coal resources, exploring the Almanac provided a stark reminder that Minnesota imports all of its coal; and that we still rely on coal for 52% of our electricity. I suspect most Minnesotans are not aware that we still rely so heavily on coal to power our homes and businesses. People I run into always think that we have more renewable energy feeding our electric grid than we actually do.
One of the benefits of this Power Almanac is that it makes topics that can sometimes feel vague—like where our power comes from—very concrete. It shows you in numbers and pictures that anyone can understand.
Joel: Who do you think will use this resource?
Rolf: The Power Almanac is meant to assist government officials, industry leaders, energy analysts and anyone else interested in better understanding where our electricity comes from today, how we might produce it in the future, and the implications of both.
Joel: How often will it be updated?
Rolf: Some data will be updated monthly; others will depend on when new information becomes available. The site’s “help” tab provides an easy way for users to send in suggestions about more up-to-date information if they know of any, and to send suggestions for improving the Almanac generally.
Joel: Where do you see untapped opportunities?
Rolf: Because we have no fossil resources or uranium—the biggest economic development opportunities for Minnesota lie with large improvements in energy efficiency, wind, solar, and bioenergy. The Almanac does not yet have information on bioenergy, but does show Minnesota’s significant remaining wind and solar potential.
The Almanac also illustrates that Minnesota has a large untapped opportunity to deploy so-called “combined heat and power” (CHP) systems that capture otherwise wasted heat energy created in the process of making electricity.
Conventional electricity production wastes two-thirds of the input fuel’s energy potential during combustion, and even relatively efficient natural gas power plants waste roughly half the energy going in. Just in Minnesota’s industrial sector, the Almanac shows the state could potentially capture enough wasted energy to equal two large coal plants.
Links:
- Explore the Power Almanac >>
- Register for a webinar Thursday to learn more >>
- More about the Power Almanac’s launch >>
Webinar: Power Almanac of the American Midwest, Thursday, May 3rd
Join GPI & WRI this Thursday for a free webinar that will introduce the Power Almanac and explain how the resource can assist policymakers, researchers and energy enthusiasts on a range of regional and state-level energy topics.
Date: Thursday, May 3rd
Time: 11:00 am EDT / 10:00 am CDT
Presenting:
- Nicholas Bianco, Senior Associate, Climate and Energy Program, World Resources Institute
- Rolf Nordstrom, Executive Director, Great Plains Institute
- Kristin Meek, Research Analyst, World Resources Institute
Register for the free webinar now >>
About the organizations
As a non-partisan, non-profit organization, the Great Plains Institute takes a pragmatic approach to transforming the way we produce, distribute, and consume energy to be both environmentally and economically sustainable. We focus on research and analysis, consensus policy development, and technology acceleration.
The World Resources Institute is a global environmental think tank that goes beyond research to put ideas into action. We work with governments, companies, and civil society to build solutions to urgent environmental challenges. WRI’s transformative ideas protect the earth and promote development.
