Renewable Energy in
Minnesota -- How Much
Do We Need?
Louis Schwartzkopf
--Minnesota State Mankato
--SE/SC Clean Energy Resource Team
--Region 9 Renewable Energy Task Force
Why renewable energy?
Switching to renewable energy is urgent
because there are problems with all fossil fuels:
 Oil: world oil production will peak, most likely
sometime in the next 20 years (peak oil).
 Electricity: 75% of Minnesota’s electricity comes
from coal (dirty and implicated in global warming).
 Natural gas: We have approximately ten years’
worth of natural gas left in North America, at
current rates of consumption.
Why renewable energy?
Exploiting SE/SC Minnesota’s renewable
energy resources –
 Creates good jobs in the region.
 Keeps energy dollars in the region.
 Strengthens the local economy.
Clean Energy Resource Team (CERT)
SE/SC Strategic Energy Plan
There is plenty of renewable energy
potential in SE/SC Minnesota!
In particular, for - Wind farms
 Ethanol plants
 Biodigesters
 Etc.
To find the plan:
http://www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org/southeast.html
How much energy do we use in
Minnesota?



Electricity
Petroleum, for gasoline and diesel fuel
Natural gas, for heating and electricity
To find the data:
Look in the 2004 Quadrennial Report on the web at -Minnesota Department of Commerce >> Energy Info Center >> Energy Policy Reports
>> Quadrennial Report - 2004
The idea
Calculate how much renewable energy
we’d need to replace fossil fuels, at
present rates of consumption:
 Wind
for electricity
 Ethanol for gasoline
 Biodigesters for natural gas
The results



Ethanol for gasoline
3 ethanol plants for both counties
Wind turbines for electricity
170 for Blue Earth County, 70 for Nicollet County
Biodigesters for natural gas
23 for Blue Earth County, 12 for Nicollet County
What does this mean?
The electricity used in Blue Earth County
is equivalent to that supplied by a goodsized wind farm.
 If all the cars in Blue Earth County burned
E85, the ethanol could be supplied by two
or three plants.
 There are not enough livestock herds in
Blue Earth County to supply our residential
natural gas.

Energy targets, not an energy plan
These numbers for Blue Earth and Nicollet
Counties are energy targets, not an
energy plan.
 The transition to renewable fuels will be
achieved over decades.
 Energy efficiency and energy conservation
must be part of any realistic plan to
convert to renewable fuels.

How are we doing
with renewables in
Minnesota so far?
Sources
American Wind Energy Association:
http://www.awea.org/projects.minnesota.html
Minnesota Department of Agriculture:
http://www.mda.state.mn.us
Wind capacity installed in
Minnesota, by year
Year
Installed
capacity,
MW
Number of
turbines
installed
Comments
1998 and before 134
220
Buffalo Ridge, 1994 (73 turbines);
Lake Benton l (143)
1999
138
189
Lake Benton 2 (138)
2000
18
25
2001
29
41
2002
17
19
2003
242
166
2004
35
24
2005
145
99
McNeilus (48); Chanarambie (57)
Moraine Wind Power (34)
Trimont (67)
Minnesota ethanol production,
by year
Year
Production
(Million gallons)
Year
Production
(Million gallons)
1990
11
1997
112
1991
17
1998
124
1992
35
1999
190
1993
38
2000
220
1994
41
2001
252
1995
51
2002
300
1996
69
2003
359
How can we plan for
increasing electricity
consumption?
Slides from Assistant Commissioner Mike Bull’s
presentation, “Projecting Future Energy Needs
and Alternative Energy Goals for Minnesota,”
available online at
http://www.mnsu.edu/ruralmn/pages
/Conferences/altenergy.html
Electricity
Doubling Minnesota’s Renewable Energy Use
Wind
11.4%
Biomass
3.2%
Renewables
11%
Non-Renewables
89%
2003 data (MWh)
RDF
11.0%
Other
0.3%
Hydro
74.1%
Electricity
Doubling Minnesota’s Renewable Energy Use
Wind
60.4%
Biomass
5.5%
Renewables
20%
Non-Renewables
80%
2015 estimate (MWh)
RDF
4.4%
Other
Hydro 0.1%
29.5%
Current and projected yearly
electricity consumption in
Minnesota (gigawatt-hours)
Year
Total
NonWind
renewables
2003 64,000 57,000
700
2015 90,000 72,000
11,000
Can the projected increases be
met?



Projected increases assume a growth in
consumption at 3.1%/year (the historic rate).
We will have to add 200 wind turbines a year to
get to the 2015 wind power projection.
In addition, we will have to add two new large
(1,000 MW) power plants to meet the projection.
The importance of conservation
and efficiency



Electricity consumption is growing faster than
population in Minnesota (3.1% vs. 0.8% a year).
If electricity consumption were to grow at the
same rate as population, then it would be held
to 70,000 (NOT 90,000) GWh in 2015.
In this case the need for additional fossil fuel
production of electricity would be eliminated!