Balancing Act: Planning for a Sustainable Wisconsin

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Balancing Act Planning for a Sustainable
Wisconsin

• Crispin Pierce, Ph.D.
• 28 December 2005

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Outline

• What Makes Wisconsin Special
• What are Sustainable Choices
• Energy sources
• Transportation
• Housing density
• Sustainable Choice Summary
• Questions

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What makes Wisconsin special?
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Why care about energy, transportation and housing
choices?

• Affects our health (e.g. current fine particle
  emissions kill thousands of people each year)
• Affects our pocketbooks (e.g. billions of dollars
  spent on disaster cleanup and insurance)
• Affects our children and their children (e.g.
  clean water, clean air, fishing, hunting, a safe
  environment)

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Energy

• What forms of energy do we need?

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Energy Coal

• Advantages
• Large US reserves
• Known technology
• Potential for lowering mercury emissions.

• Disadvantages
• Nonrenewable
• Acid rain
• Mercury in fish
• Particulate matter
• Global warming

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Energy Petroleum

• Advantages
• Known technology
• Infrastructure exists

• Disadvantages
• Nonrenewable
• Air pollution (NOx, particulates, CO)
• Drilling, piping, and refining effects
• Global warming

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Energy Nuclear

• Advantages
• Very low emissions
• Relatively safe

• Disadvantages
• Major water needs for cooling
• Extremely toxic spent fuel materials
• Extremely long half-lives of these wastes

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Energy Wind

• Advantages
• Renewable
• Very low impact
• Local generation

• Disadvantages
• Need constant windy conditions
• Batteries for storage
• Startup costs

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Energy Solar Heating

• Advantages
• Renewable
• Local generation
• Low impact

• Disadvantages
• Need regular sunlight
• Storage impractical
• Startup cost

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Energy Solar Photovoltaic

• Advantages
• Renewable
• Local generation
• Creates electricity
• Low impact

• Disadvantages
• Low efficiency
• Batteries for storage
• Startup cost

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Energy Biomass

• Advantages
• Renewable
• Local generation
• Simple

• Disadvantages
• Particulates
• Local deforestation

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Transportation

• Whats important about our transportation?

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http//www.transact.org/nrdc/ozone.htm
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Transportation Internal Combustion Engines

• Advantages
• Known technology
• Variety of engine sizes

• Disadvantages
• Relies on nonrenewable fuels
• Air and noise pollution
• Global warming

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Transportation Hybrid Engines

• Advantages
• Much more fuel efficient
• Quieter
• Reduced air pollution

• Disadvantages
• Still relies on nonrenewable fuels
• Higher battery cost

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Transportation Fuel Cell

• Advantages
• Water vapor exhaust

• Disadvantages
• Energy needed to purify H2
• Explosion potential
• Distribution system

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Transportation Flex-Fuel

• Advantages
• Utilizes renewable ethanol
• Greatly reduced global warming

• Disadvantages
• Current laws allow increase in gas guzzlers
  w/flex fuel car
• Distribution system

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Housing Density

• What is important about our housing?

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http//oklahoma.sierraclub.org/sprawl/figure1.jpg
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Housing Density Suburbs

• Advantages
• Country land cheaper
• Initial country living
• Appearance of safety

• Disadvantages
• Added commute time, cost and pollution
• Increased taxes for roads
• Destruction of farms, open space, forests,
  wetlands, etc.

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Housing Density Urban

• Advantages
• Short/no commute
• Close to businesses and friends
• Lower tax costs for infrastructure
• Preserves natural land functions (e.g. clean
  water supply)

• Disadvantages
• Higher land costs
• Requires more planning

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Sustainable Choice Summary

• Energy
• Conservation
• Wind, solar, biomass emphasis

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• Transportation
• Raise fuel economy standards
• Hybrid engines
• Flex-fuel vehicles

http//images.securedwebform.com/stock/300/toyota/
prius/2002/4sa.jpg
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• Housing density
• Urban, multiple use design

http//www.homesalameda.org/graphics/urban.jpg
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Questions?
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Information Sources

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Control
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• Oklahoma Sierra Club