The Union of Concerned Scientists has an informative presentation and quiz on the source of electricity in the East and Southeast of the U.S. Take the quiz – see how you do. Without giving away the answer, you’ll see a figure that fits with a previous post about why energy efficiency is not enough. Change is essential.

So where does Minnesota energy come from? Here’s a graphic from the MN Pollution Control Agency breaking down Minnesota energy sources. “Over half of the electricity generated in Minnesota comes from coal-fired electric power plants. Minnesota receives most of its coal supply by rail from Montana and Wyoming. Two nuclear plants near the Twin Cities typically account for nearly one-fourth of the state’s electricity production.”

So how much of our electricity can we replace with renewable energy here in Minnesota? Well, the Minnesota’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES) law requires that 25% of retail electricity sold in the state come from renewable sources by 2025 and we’re not close to that yet.

• Wind: Minnesota ranks ninth in the country for wind energy potential (here’s a nifty map showing where Minnesota has wind energy potential). North Dakota is first and South Dakota is fourth), much of which is located along the Buffalo Ridge in southern and southwest Minnesota.
• Solar: We’re not in as good a shape as Arizona, but we aren’t all that bad, either. Check out this map on Solar Works for Minnesota showing solar power potential in MN. We have greater solar potential than Germany, which is leading the way in solar.
• Biomass: We don’t hear about this very much, and its not something most average people can access, but check out what the Union of Concerned Scientists has to say about biomass. We DO have biomass resources in Minnesota.

A few resources to bookmark when you want to learn more about energy, energy policy, and renewable energy resources:

• Fresh Energy: A Minnesota nonprofit “leading the transition to a clean, efficient and fair energy system.”
• Midwest Energy News: All your energy NEWS in one place!
• U of M Extension Services: Renewable Energy

Or… why we need to actually change what we do, not just how we do it.

Check out this story from Bjørn Lomborg, the author of The Skeptical Environmentalist and Cool It, head of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, and adjunct professor at Copenhagen Business School.

“Back in the early 1970’s, the average American expended roughly 70 million (BTUs) per year to heat, cool, and power his or her home. Since then, of course, we have made great strides in energy efficiency …. So how much energy do Americans use in their homes today? … roughly what it was 40 years ago: 70 million BTUs.

This surprising lack of change is the result of something economists call the “rebound effect” …  the more efficient we get at using something, the more of it we are likely to use. Efficiency doesn’t reduce consumption; it increases it.

… Research findings along these lines, published in August in The Journal of Physics by energy economist Harry Saunders and four colleagues from the US Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories… found that, “as lighting becomes more energy efficient, and thus cheaper, we use ever-more of it….”

The article ends with, “…we shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that swapping our current car for a Prius, or replacing our incandescent lights with energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs, will strike a meaningful blow against climate change.”

The author suggests it is more important to pressure government to give us better answers. I think the author can afford to say that because he doesn’t live in the U.S.

I think from a personal action standpoint, while we can try to influence legislators, we can also work on making more radical change, not simply going for the easy fix.

Energy bills came in for January  and I entered them into the Ennovationz database. We cut 110 kilawatt hours and 10 therms of gas. Pretty good for a cold January. That’s 272 pounds of CO2 we didn’t create (and $22 saved).

I’m looking forward to seeing how we did in February. Many days we’ve kept the heat down in high 50s.