|  | | | Bioeconomy: Economics and Policy | | Research Projects
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Transition Roadmap Toward a Carbon-neutral Energy System for the Upper-Midwest Region
Date Approved: 10/19/04
Amount: $39,000
Leads: Kenneth Keller, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, and Steve Taff, Department of Applied Economics
Contact Person: Steve Taff, Department of Applied Economics
Benefits and Deliverables:
- Provide a useful tool to legislators and policy-makers to allow them to plan the region's energy future by making appropriate changes in policy and appropriate investments in technology.
- Position the University of Minnesota as a regional and national leader in energy and climate policy.
- Assist in the development of a regional energy policy based on the best available science.
- Contribute to overall knowledge of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change science, and the economics of energy policy by complementing global carbon mitigation research with a regional case-study.
- A report will be produced and distributed to partners and policy-makers, including interested IREE participants and University of Minnesota faculty and students, Great Plains Institute staff, members of the Powering the Plains work groups, legislators in the Legislators Forum, and other interested legislators in both state and national delegations.
- A presentation will be prepared and presented both before the Powering the Plains work group and the Legislators Forum annual meeting.
- As requested by legislators and policy-makers, presentations will be given at legislative hearings and sessions in as many as five states and one Canadian province (supported by the Great Plains Institute).
- In-kind support from the Great Plains Institute will allow findings to be put on the web and additional promotion of the research.
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Wind Energy in Minnesota: How Policy Affects the Use of Alternative Energy Sources
Date Approved: 8/26/04
Amount: $11,811
Leads: Jay S. Coggins and Steven Wishart, Department of Applied Economics
Contacts: Jay S. Coggins and Steven Wishart, Department of Applied Economics
Benefits and Deliverables:
A Wind Energy White Paper that provides objective assessment and recommendations for improved efficiency in Minnesota's renewable energy markets.
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Energy from Grass: Integrating Directed Class Research with Additional Research Topics
Date Approved: 3/22/04
Amount: $25,000
Leads: Doug Tiffany and Steve Taff, Department of Applied Economics
Contact Person: Doug Tiffany, Department of Applied Economics
Benefits and Deliverables:
- The researchers will produce a detailed report analyzing the production economics of native prairie grasses, transportation and logistics costs of native prairie grass production, the potential for land recruitment and integration with existing government programs that encourage native prairies, and identification of methods to reduce transactions costs of biomass fuels versus fossil fuels. Additional research will be conducted on the economics of the pyrolysis process to sell chemicals and fuels from bio-oils derived from native prairie grasses including switchgrass in Minnesota and the Dakotas.
- Provide copies of the report to regional state legislators through the Legislator's Forum and other interested parties such as the regional Nature Conservancy, wildlife groups, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, various regional environmental groups, state farm bureaus, the farmers' union, industry groups, commodity groups, and government and elected officials.
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Full Cost Accounting of Renewable Energy Systems
Date Approved: 2/17/04
Amount: $38,506
Leads: Steve Polasky, Professor - Department of Applied Economics, David Tilman, Regents Professor - Ecology/Evolution/Behavior, and Jennifer Kuzma, Associate Director - Center for Science, Technology and Public Policy
Contact Person: Steve Polasky, Professor, Department of Applied Economics
Benefits and Deliverables:
The researchers will produce a compilation and summary of full cost accounting studies in three areas: the use of biomass as a source of energy and products, the use of fossil fuels, and the use of wind, solar and other renewable energy systems.
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Full Cost Accounting of Renewable and Conventional Energy Sources
Amount: $673,995
Leads: Steve
Polasky, Professor - Department of Applied Economics, David Tilman,
Regents Professor - Ecology/Evolution/Behavior, Vernon Eidman - Department of Applied Economics, Frank Kulacki - Mechanical Engineering and Jennifer Kuzma - Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, Doug Tiffany - Department of Applied Economics
Benefits and Deliverables:
- Set out a clear methodology for full cost accounting of energy use that includes environmental costs along with direct costs of energy use;
- Apply full cost accounting to a range of alternative renewable and conventional energy sources to make an objective comparison of the full costs of alternative energy sources.
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Economics and Environmental Impacts of Biofuels in Minnesota
Date Approved: 8/3/07
Amount: $100,000
Leads: Jeff Apland, Department of Applied Economics; David Mulla, Department of Soil, Water and Climate; Shri Ramaswamy and Sangwon Suh, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
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