Wisconsin Governor Wants to Cut $8 Million from Bioenergy Research

- by Thomas Content and Lee Bergquist, February 28, 2015, Journal Sentinel

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"405","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","style":"width: 300px; height: 189px; margin: 3px 10px; float: left;","title":"Photo: Journal Sentinel"}}]]In an about-face from his first term, Gov. Scott Walker wants to eliminate funding for a University of Wisconsin-Madison renewable energy research center that has played a key role in helping land one of its biggest government grants ever.

In his budget, Walker is proposing to eliminate $8.1 million over two years — a total of 35 positions — from a bioenergy program.

The reductions are separate from his proposal to cut $300 million from the University of Wisconsin System over the next two years.

The research program, founded in 2009, is charged with developing technologies to convert wood chips, corn stalks and native grasses to homegrown sources of power.