Energy
Illinois touted as property tax model for wind farms
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Illinois’ taxing model for wind energy companies is touted as one of the best in the country, bringing in $30.4 million in property taxes in 2016, according to economic experts.
Energy
Federal government expected to lose more than $20 billion on wind energy credits
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A complex system of federal and state tax credits has played a key role in the development of wind farms across the United States, with billions of dollars of support going to foreign and U.S. energy companies.
Energy
Federal tax credits drive foreign wind investment
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Investment in U.S. wind energy production has increased tenfold over the past decade with the help of billions of dollars in federal tax help, with foreign companies making up much of the increase.
Energy
Rush to attract wind turbine investors leaves Kansas school districts shortchanged
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The exemption leaves untaxed for life nearly $630 million in Kansas wind farm equipment, according to the Kansas Department of Revenue. If it were on the tax rolls, that equipment would generate around $82 million a year in additional revenue for the 24 rural counties with wind farms.
Government
Democratic senators call for insider trading investigation into presidential adviser Carl Icahn’s renewable fuel credits investment
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A group of eight Democratic senators on Tuesday called upon three federal departments to investigate whether billionaire investor — and adviser to President Donald Trump — Carl Icahn violated insider trading laws for his activity in the renewable fuel credits market.
Energy
New USDA report touts corn-based ethanol’s benefits — despite recent doubts
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A new U.S. Department of Agriculture report released in mid-January has found that greenhouse gas emissions associated with producing corn-based ethanol are about 43 percent lower than gasoline.
Energy
University of Illinois to begin purchasing wind energy
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The new 10-year agreement, announced by the UI this week, will supply the Urbana campus with 25,000 MWh of energy, about 8.6 percent of the total generation from the Rail Splitter Wind Farm.
Reports question environmental good of ethanol
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While ethanol has been hailed as an environmental boon, whether the use of ethanol as a fuel has a positive effect on the environment has been contested, even beyond spills.
Energy
Ethanol spills on the rise in the Midwest
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An ethanol spill occurs every two days on average in the Midwest, the worst of which result in contamination of water supplies, major fish kills, loss of life and millions of dollars of damage. The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting found that as production and transportation of ethanol has risen dramatically in the region over the past three decades, so have ethanol spills.
RFS
Renewable Fuel Standard unlikely to meet goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions
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A top congressional watchdog has found that the Renewable Fuel Standard isn’t doing its job.
