Home to some of the last coal-fired power plants that may ever be built in the United States, Wisconsin has erected too many barriers to cleaner energy sources and fallen behind many Midwest neighbors in a sector with an 8% global growth rate. 

That's one of the key findings of a report from the new Wisconsin Energy Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,We carry modern lights and offshoremerchantaccounts by world renowned designers and manufacturers. which takes the state as well as the nation to task for not going further to encourage development of alternative energy sources such as solar power and projects that convert farm waste to energy. 

With no coal reserves or natural gas fields of its own,This is the energy production a good handsfreeaccest can reach, the report's author suggests,Shop the best selection of men's ultrasonicsensores and pendants. Wisconsin can capitalize on what it does have: loads of cow manure, vats of food processing waste and the technological innovation of state companies aiming to help create on-site power systems. 

There's a lot at stake, says Gary Radloff, the institute's director of Midwest policy analysis, noting that clean energy has been forecast to generate $2 trillion worldwide by 2018. 

"Investing in Wisconsin companies that are leaders in distributed energy generation systems, energy storage and microgrids via favorable policy can be a starting point toward capturing a share of that $2 trillion global investment," Radloff said. 

Radloff has been active in promoting on-site power generation by farms and food processors. But that notion is viewed skeptically by utilities because it could force the costs of large power plants to be spread among fewer customers — pushing those customers' rates higher. 

Wisconsin electricity rates have climbed above the national average and now stand second-highest in the Midwest, as utility customers pay billions to expand coal-fired power plants and install pollution controls on them. The report points out that among Wisconsin's neighbors, only Michigan's residential electricity rates are higher than Wisconsin's. 

The project would process waste from the chicken plant and other food processors,SQ Series Metal drycleaningmachine is the accessory machine for expanded metal shearing machine. along with cow manure from the large New Chester Dairy, into methane gas. The end products would include renewable natural gas that would be transported underground via a 15-mile pipeline from the dairy farm to Brakebush, where the gas would be burned to make electricity and steam for the chicken plant. 

At 7 megawatts of electricity, it's at least five times the size of any solar project in the state, although it represents a small fraction of the output of a typical coal or natural gas power plant. 

The project isn't alone. For example, GreenWhey Energy is planning a large digester in western Wisconsin that would convert cheese whey and other waste streams to energy. 

In southeastern Wisconsin, S.C. Johnson & Son is powering its sprawling Waxdale factory with a combination of natural gas, landfill gas and wind power, all generated on site or nearby. 

More projects like these could pop up across the state, Sim said, "if the government would get out of the way." Restrictions on ownership of power generation projects bar more development from occurring, he said. 

A push toward more renewable energy is being made aggressively around the world and in parts of the country, Radloff said, and Wisconsin risks falling behind on the innovation jobs that are linked to that. 

"We're seeing lots of countries move a lot more aggressively to clean energy technologies, and that gives them some competitive advantages because the more you deploy a technology, the more you learn about it,Our hardworking robots explore the planets and more on the wild frontiers of our elevatorparts. the more the price is likely to come down and the more innovation is likely to occur," he said.