Illinois Governor Plans to Tap Local Energy Sources
Date: 23-Aug-06
Country: US
Author: Andrew Stern
Blagojevich, a Democrat, said his plan was the most ambitious of any state and involves constructing dozens of plants to make ethanol, electricity and natural gas -- and send the carbon dioxide the plants emit through a new pipeline to pump up the state's oil production and then sequester the greenhouse gas underground.
"No other state has the combination of natural resources that we have here in Illinois," Blagojevich said in a statement.
"We're the nation's leading producer of soybeans. We're the No. 2 producer of corn. And we have the nation's third-largest reserves of coal," he said.
Environmentalists agreed. "It looks like a very smart, political move by the governor and one that has real potential benefits in terms of both cleaner coal and reducing oil consumption," said Frank O'Donnell of the group Clean Air Watch.
"Obviously, the devil may be in the details. But it looks to be a good-faith effort to use local energy," O'Donnell said.
"The idea of making sure that (carbon dioxide) is captured from industrial sources, especially from new plants, is very important," said Frank Hawkins of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
But Blagojevich currently supports a 1,500-megawatt coal-burning power plant expected to be built in southern Illinois that would not capture its carbon dioxide emissions, Hawkins said.
Blagojevich's long-range plan calls for the state to invest US$27 million annually to generate US$1.2 billion of capital investment yearly from industry. To pay for the state's portion, Blagojevich said 150 tax collectors will be hired to collect up to US$40 million in corporate taxes that now go unpaid.
President Bush has pushed for alternative fuels to replace the nation's "addiction to oil," much of it imported from overseas. Ethanol production made primarily from corn is surging in the United States as oil and gasoline prices have soared.
Blagojevich said incentives would go to equip the state's gas stations so they can dispense fuel with high ethanol content, and the auto industry would be enlisted to boost availability of vehicles that run on ethanol.
Along with funding for biodiesel plants, coal gasification projects, and other power generators, money for energy conservation in public buildings and new building codes for homes will allow Illinois to produce half its energy needs locally by 2017, Blagojevich said.
