Biography

Michael Krause is a founding partner of Kandiyohi Development Partners, a Minneapolis-based firm that focuses on renewable energy development and green building projects.  Previously, Krause was executive director for nine years of the Green Institute, an environmentally-oriented community development organization.  Krause has also served as chair of the Minneapolis Consortium of Community Developers, the Minnesota Environmental Initiative and has been a member of the Minneapolis Planning Commission. He has a bachelors degree from Macalester College and a law degree from the University of Minnesota.

Abstract

The solutions to many global problems are often in the hands of community-based initiatives with community-based solutions.  This is true of the need to address global warming and the transition to new forms of energy supply where innovation among small businesses and local organizations is a major force for change.  This presentation looks at the Midtown Eco-Energy (MEE) Project, a biomass-fueled combined heat and power facility in Minneapolis that is addressing demands for more renewable energy and shifting some of the power over energy decision-making back to the local level.  MEE is a qualifying Community Based Energy Development (CBED) under Minnesota law and is a case study in how to assess community resources and leverage those resources with other financing and policies.  The biomass project will create local closed loops for some of the city’s wood and biomass waste while building a sustainable community asset and a tool for ongoing economic development.  MEE also opens up the possibility that every municipal building in Minneapolis (libraries, schools, City Hall, etc.) and all of the University of Minnesota could run its operations entirely with green power generated within the city’s boundaries.