Homegrown Renewable Energy Campaign

The challenge of global climate change requires us to quickly adjust to clean energy alternatives. The solution is to develop renewable, sustainable and community-based policy initiatives that help to create new jobs and a renewable energy economy.
Wisconsin can be a leader in building a renewable energy economy, without sacrificing our natural resources. The Homegrown Renewable Energy Campaign focuses on expanding energy production from biomass. By expanding bioenergy, we will achieve greater energy and economic security, create new jobs and new agricultural markets, and reduce our carbon emissions. By developing renewable energy technologies based on native perennials that hold the soil, improve water quality and provide wildlife habitat, we will explore a sustainable approach to renewable energy while creating a bridge to the next generation of biofuels. Wisconsin agriculture and forestry industries are essential to expanding a renewable energy economy in our state. The Homegrown Renewable Energy campaign outlines policy initiatives, which were among those recommended by Governor Doyle's Global Warming Task Force, to take us into the future:

Biomass Energy Crop Reserve Program
This program will pay farmers, based on ten-year contracts, to plant native perennial plants, which the farmer can then sell to bioenergy producers. The program is mirrored after the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), expected to lose one-third to one-half of its current contracts this cycle, due to changes in commodity prices. Renewable Fuels for Schools and Communities Program. This program will provide an educational and a revolving loan program to provide working capital for the purchase of equipment for biomass systems to be installed in schools and government-owned buildings. Currently, seven other states have similar programs. On average, Wisconsin schools spend close to $200 million dollars each year on energy. Biomass heating will save schools and communities tens of thousands of dollars in heating costs each year
and help increase demand for homegrown energy.

Renewable Energy Buyback Program: Rewarding renewable energy producers
This program will set utility payment rates for small renewable energy producers who want to "feed energy" into the electric grid. This program encourages investment. By establishing known buyback rates, it encourages distributed generation of renewable energy and enables farmers, small businesses, homeowners, churches and others to install
renewable energy systems. Renewable energy buyback programs (also called "advanced renewable" or "feed-in tariffs") are a proven way to significantly expand renewable energy including biomass, solar, wind and hydroelectricity. They have been widely used in several European countries and in Canada to quickly expand renewable energy production.

Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)
A Low Carbon Fuel Standard will encourage the production of not just more biofuels, but the lowest carbon biofuels. A LCFS calls for a reduction in carbon emissions from transportation fuels and will not dictate the mix of fuels delivered. Instead, the LCFS is a measurement tool based the carbon content of all fuels and the transformation of the market. This type of measurement makes the LCFS profitable for farmers and, at the same time, not overly burdensome for industry. Two states have already established LCFS, and fifteen other states are exploring or have proposed a standard.