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The governor's plan would provide new incentives to help triple
Illinois' production of ethanol and other biofuels and build up to
10 new coal gasification plants to convert Illinois coal into
natural gas, diesel fuel and electricity. The plan also includes
construction of a pipeline from central to southeastern Illinois to
transport carbon dioxide produced by new energy plants to where it
can be pumped underground to extract more oil and gas that sits
underground in Illinois.
Trapping carbon dioxide underground will permanently prevent this
greenhouse gas from being emitted into the atmosphere. The plan
calls for a dramatic expansion of renewable energy production as
well as significant reductions in energy use through investments in
energy efficiency and conservation. Specifically, the governor's
plan will:
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Invest in
renewable biofuels by providing financial incentives to build up
to 20 new ethanol plants and five new biodiesel plants. These
increases in ethanol and biofuels production would allow
Illinois to replace 50 percent of its current supply of imported
oil with renewable, homegrown biofuels.
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Increase the
number of gas stations that sell biofuels, so that all gas
stations offer 85 percent ethanol fuel by 2017, and help the
auto industry to produce more and better flexible-fuel vehicles
that can run on either E-85 or regular gasoline.
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Invest $775
million to help build up to 10 new coal gasification plants that
use Illinois coal to meet 25 percent of Illinois' diesel fuel
needs, 25 percent of natural gas needs and 10 percent of
electricity needs by 2017.
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Build a pipeline
to move carbon dioxide captured from coal gasification plants to
oilfields in southeastern Illinois to extract more oil and
natural gas and permanently store the carbon dioxide, a
greenhouse gas, underground.
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Meet 10 percent of
the state's electricity needs from renewable energy sources by
2015 and greatly boost investment in energy efficiency, while
finding ways to cut emissions and reduce motor fuel consumption
by 10 percent by 2017.
"No other state has the combination of natural resources that we
have here in Illinois. We're the nation's leading producer of
soybeans," Blagojevich said. "We're the number two producer of corn.
And we have the nation's third-largest reserves of coal. That means
opportunity -- opportunity to turn more corn into ethanol and more
soybeans into diesel fuel. And it means turning coal into home
heating fuel and electricity. It means creating 30,000 new jobs
downstate. It means helping consumers save billions of dollars in
energy costs. And it means finding ways to help drivers use less gas
and help homeowners cut their utility bills. Our plan will allow us
to meet 50 percent of our fuel needs with alternative, homegrown
sources of fuel by 2017.
"Stop and think about what that means. It means that if we make
the right investments now, within 10 years, we'll be able to produce
enough energy from our own natural resource to cut our dependence on
foreign energy in half. That means billions of our hard-earned
dollars will stay here at home, in our economy, rather than leaving
Illinois forever. We have the resources. We have the technology. We
have the expertise. And if we start today, we can solve this problem
in the next 10 years. No other state can say that. And the federal
government hasn't even conceived of that yet. But we can do it here
in Illinois."
Part 1: Invest in biofuels
The goal of the governor's energy plan is to replace 50 percent
of the state's current supply of imported oil with renewable,
homegrown biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel. Since February, the
average price of gasoline increased from $2.17 a gallon to more than
$3. At $3 a gallon, the average person spends about $500 more on gas
than last year. The governor proposes to invest $100 million over
the next five years to build up to 20 new ethanol plants across
Illinois. The additional ethanol production would generate an
estimated $1.7 billion in business investment. The governor proposes
investing an additional $100 million over the next 10 years to build
four plants in downstate Illinois using new technology to create
ethanol made from plant waste materials like corn husks and wood
pulp -- or "cellulosic ethanol." This means boosting the state's
annual ethanol production by more than 200 percent and meeting 50
percent of gasoline needs by 2017. And, the governor's plan would
invest $25 million to help build five new biodiesel plants, boosting
the state's production by 200 percent to 400 million gallons per
year, or the equivalent to 25 percent of the state's annual diesel
fuel needs by 2017. This additional biodiesel production will
generate another $225 million in business investment in Illinois.
Besides building new plants, the governor will create a task
force to drive continued investment in Illinois' biofuels industry.
He will also issue an executive order to speed up construction of
biofuels plants by expediting state permits and streamlining the
permit process.
These investments in biofuels are expected to create more than
800 direct and permanent jobs at the facilities and 8,000
construction jobs. These jobs will generate an additional 7,000
indirect permanent jobs in total. The plan would greatly help
farmers sell to new markets and put farmers on the forefront in the
effort to make Illinois energy independent.
Part 2: Increase use of biofuels
As Illinois produces more biofuels, the second major goal of the
governor's energy plan is to make sure every gas station in Illinois
offers 85 percent ethanol fuel by 2017. To reach this goal, the
governor proposes investing $30 million over the next five years to
add 900 more E-85 pumps statewide by 2010, meaning 20 percent of
Illinois gas stations will offer E-85. Illinois will also work with
automakers to offer more flexible-fuel vehicles to Illinois drivers,
by providing up to $25 million incentives to produce more vehicles
that can run on E-85. The state will also increase public awareness
about E-85 and promote use by local governments and private fleets.
Increasing biofuels production and consumption means cars will use
cleaner burning, homegrown fuel and give drivers real alternatives
to the high cost of gasoline.
Part 3: Invest in advanced coal gasification technology
In addition to high prices at gas pumps, consumers are also
feeling the heat of high natural gas costs. Natural gas prices have
doubled since 2003. Even a 5 percent annual increase in natural gas
translates into $600 more in costs for households by 2015. The
governor's plan would ensure that 25 percent of natural gas consumed
in Illinois would come from Illinois coal. Coal is found under
37,000 square miles in Illinois and contains more energy than the
oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined. In fact, Illinois
has 38 billion tons of recoverable coal, accounting for 12 percent
of all coal in the U.S. The governor's plan would invest $775
million over the next 10 years to help build up to 10 new coal
gasification plants across Illinois. These plants would meet 25
percent of Illinois' diesel fuel needs, 25 percent of natural gas
needs and 10 percent of electricity needs by 2017. Coal gasification
technology converts coal from a solid to a gas that can be
substituted for natural gas, diesel or electricity. Gasification is
the cleanest and most efficient way to convert coal to energy with
low emissions of mercury and other air pollutants and allows for the
capture and underground storage of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.
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 Of all states, Illinois is the best suited for large-scale
development of coal gasification because of its vast coal reserves
and geology appropriate for carbon dioxide storage. Because of these
advantages, two Illinois sites were selected out of four national
finalists for the FutureGen project, a federal public-private
partnership to build the nation's first zero-emissions coal-fired
power plant. The sites are Tuscola and Mattoon. If Illinois wins
FutureGen, businesses and the federal government would invest $1
billion in Illinois, creating 150 permanent jobs and 1,300
construction jobs. If Illinois does not win FutureGen, these sites
would be ideal to develop coal gasification plants in the future.
An investment of $775 million to build coal gasification plants
would generate more than
$10 billion in new business investment in Illinois. These plants
could create an estimated 1,000 new permanent jobs, 2,500 new mining
jobs and 10,000 construction jobs in central and southern Illinois.
The governor's plan also calls for partnering with utility companies
to purchase electricity and natural gas from coal gasification
plants under long-term contracts that will help stabilize energy
prices for consumers for years to come.
Part 4: Reduce emissions and recover more oil and gas
Even though coal gasification plants are much cleaner than
traditional plants, they still emit carbon dioxide. The fourth part
of the governor's plan will make coal gasification plants even more
environmentally friendly by capturing carbon dioxide and safely
storing it underground, instead of emitting it into the air. The
governor proposes building a pipeline from gasification facilities
in central and southern Illinois to Illinois Basin oilfields in
southeastern Illinois. Illinois' oil reserves hold more than 1
billion recoverable barrels of oil. Because the fields are mature,
production cannot increase without using advanced recovery
techniques. "Enhanced oil recovery," which uses carbon dioxide to
extract more oil from existing reserves, could nearly double the
amount of petroleum produced by Illinois annually. The 100-mile
pipeline would transport the carbon dioxide captured by the coal
gasification plants to oilfields and use the pressurized carbon
dioxide to extract more oil and gas.
Additionally, the carbon dioxide transported by the pipeline
could extract methane from Illinois coal reserves. Illinois coal
reserves hold enough methane, a fuel similar to natural gas, to meet
all of the state's natural gas needs for seven years.
The pipeline would cost about $100 million to build and would
generate an estimated $12 million in annual revenue. The royalties
from the recovered oil and gas would subsidize the costs of
sequestering the carbon dioxide.
Part 5: Reduce energy use, improve efficiency, invest in
renewable energy
The governor's plan also focuses on using more sources of
renewable energy and strategies to improve energy efficiency and
reduce energy consumption. To make Illinois energy more efficient,
the governor's plan sets a goal of reducing motor fuel consumption
in Illinois by 10 percent by 2017, allowing residents to save
billions annually in fuel costs. The governor also proposes to work
with the automobile industry, environmental groups and consumer
advocates to form the Illinois Fuel Conservation Task Force to
explore strategies to reach the goal of reducing fuel use by 10
percent by 2017.
Additionally, the state will focus on ways to boost renewable
energy use while finding ways to conserve energy. Illinois has
powerful wind resources that can be harnessed to provide electricity
to more than 1 million homes. By adopting a Renewable Portfolio
Standard, 10 percent of Illinois' electricity can be generated by
clean, renewable energy sources like wind by 2015. The governor
proposes that Illinois adopt an Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard
to greatly increase investments in energy-saving programs and
technologies that can reduce utility bills for homes and businesses.
In other efforts to improve energy efficiency, the governor's
plan calls for a $25 million revolving loan fund to support energy
efficiency investments in public buildings to reduce government
energy usage. The governor also proposes a $25 million revolving
loan fund to support energy efficiency investments by small
businesses and manufacturers. Finally, the governor's plan includes
adopting a building code for single-family homes similar to the code
already adopted for commercial buildings to meet modern energy
efficiency standards. Forty-two other states have already adopted
such residential efficiency codes.
The governor's plan will cost an estimated $27 million annually
in general revenue to support $1.2 billion of total capital
investment. To pay for the plan, the governor will increase
enforcement efforts to collect taxes from corporations that
currently evade taxation. The Illinois Department of Revenue
estimates that businesses owe the state $35 million to $40 million
in sales and corporate income taxes. Some businesses collect sales
taxes from customers but don't remit the revenue to the state.
Others, mainly out-of-state corporations, illegally shelter income
that goes uncollected. The Illinois Department of Revenue will hire
150 more tax auditors to collect these delinquent taxes, producing
more than $30 million in fiscal 2007 and as much as $40 million in
fiscal 2008. These new revenues will help ensure tax fairness and
will be collected without raising income or sales taxes or changing
Illinois' tax code.
Blagojevich said, in summary: "Taking these five steps means
creating 10,000 permanent jobs and almost 20,000 construction jobs
-- and almost all of them would be downstate. It means generating
over $12 billion in private investment. It means giving our farmers
new markets for their corn and soybeans. It means helping Illinois
companies produce more ethanol. It means reducing global warming.
And most importantly, it means giving consumers a choice and giving
consumers a chance. Right now, we're held hostage to the whims of
OPEC. We're held hostage to complex political situations and
unstable leadership in places like Iran and Venezuela. We're
patronized and ignored by our leaders in Washington and manipulated
and extorted by oil barons in the Middle East. It's about time
someone stands up for the American people. It's about time someone
says: Here's the problem, here's a plan -- let's act and let's solve
this problem.
"This plan is different from anything we've ever done before.
It's different from anything any other state has tried before. But
these aren't normal times. As countries like China and India
continue to develop, the demand for oil and gas is only going to
grow. The supply will only decline. As a nation, we represent only 4
percent of the world's population. But we consume 25 percent of its
annual energy use. Staying the course is not an option. Using our
own natural resources is. Someone has to act. And that someone is
us."
[News release from the governor's
office]
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