by jboullion | Jun 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article published in the e-newsletter of Focus on Energy:
Drive through the UW-Parkside campus today and you’ll notice a new energy on campus—solar energy, to be exact. UW-Parkside just put Kenosha on the renewable energy map in a big way with the installation of a 26 kilowatt solar electric system.
Under the guidance of UW-Parkside’s Task Force on Sustainability, Don Kolbe, the university’s director of facilities management, oversaw the installation of three separate, highly visible solar electric systems across the campus. According to Mr. Kolbe, “We [UW-Parkside] wanted a visual representation of the sustainability initiative that our university has been actively pursuing.” These three solar electric systems will convert the sun’s energy into more than 34,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity each year (view real-time energy production here) that will help power the campus for the next 30-plus years. This energy production is enough to power three average single-family homes in Wisconsin and offset the release of more than 75,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas that is a major contributor to global warming.
The environmental attributes of this project are undeniable, but just as attractive is the portfolio of incentives from which UW-Parkside was able to benefit. According to Don Wichert, director of the Focus on Energy Renewable Energy Program, “With the confluence of state, federal, and utility incentives that are available for the installation of renewable energy systems, now is an excellent time to install a solar system.” A $50,000 incentive through the Focus on Energy Program, a $100,000 grant through the We Energies Renewable Energy Development Program, generous donations, and the annual revenue that this system will net, all made this project financially viable.
by jboullion | Jun 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
SB 185/AB 256 will improve the regulatory climate in Wisconsin and advance current state energy policy. The erratic permitting environment for wind projects means that state policy is being blocked at the local level.
+ Current law requires that 10 percent of utilities’ electrical sales be generated from renewable resources by 2015.
+ Wind will be the workhorse for Wisconsin utilities. Between 75% and 95% of the energy needed to meet the 10% statewide target will be generated with wind.
+ The single biggest constraint to increasing wind generation in Wisconsin is the permitting environment, which is far more problematic here than in neighboring states.
+ Regulatory uncertainty increases project costs, harming Wisconsin ratepayers. The absence of statewide siting standards forces wind energy out of state forfeiting Wisconsin jobs and investment while adding transmission costs.
“We support SB 185/AB 256…Industrial customers are very concerned about electric rates and their impact on jobs in state. We want to do everything we can to hold down rates here in Wisconsin to keep our jobs here and stay competitive…This bill is one way of mitigating these costs. Wind is the only resource that will meet the current 10% renewable mandate. (Joint public hearing May 12, 2009)
-Todd Stuart, Executive Director of WIEG
“Wisconsin is counting on wind power to propel the state 90 percent of the way toward meeting a goal of more than doubling the renewable energy contribution to electric needs over the next six years.”
-Wisconsin State Journal (“A win for wind power in Wisconsin”)
“Wind power is not a passing fad. It has to be a part of the solution to weaning the U.S. from fossil fuels…Wisconsin has chosen to be a leader, not a follower in the use of renewable sources of energy.”
-Sheboygan Press (“Have uniform rules for siting wind turbines”)
by jboullion | Jun 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
by jboullion | Jun 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
by jboullion | Jun 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
by jboullion | Jun 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
2009
05.12.09 RENEW Wisconsin’s testimony on SB185/AB256
by jboullion | Jun 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
From Mid-State Technical College:
There is still room for a few more high school students who want to be in on a FREE three-day renewable energy academy at Mid-State Tech in Wisconsin Rapids June 17-19.
Not only is this free, students who attend earn 1 college credit.
Mid-State Technical College in Wisconsin Rapids is committed to renewable energy and efficiency education, with a variety of renewable energy programs:
Biorefinery Technology
Renewable Electricity Technician
Renewable Thermal Technician
Renewable Energy Specialist
Energy Efficiency Technician
Registration deadline is Friday, June 12.
For more information or to register contact:
Kris Buss, Administrative Assistant
Phone: 715.422.5375
Email: kris.buss@mstc.edu
by jboullion | Jun 5, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Sara Daehn in the Cresco Times-Plain Dealer:
Cresco, Iowa – Construction is underway on a 99-megawatt wind farm near Riceville.
The Crane Creek Wind Project will consist of 66 GE 1.5 megawatt wind turbines and is expected to generate electricity to provide for the energy needs of approximately 27,000 homes serviced by investor-owned electric and natural gas utility Wisconsin Public Service, who will take over ownership of the project upon completion.
About 50-60 construction workers began working at the site of the Crane Creek Wind Project, located at 9895 Fir Ave. in rural Riceville, on April 13. So far, crews have been busy mobilizing the construction site, pouring foundations for each turbine and creating access roads.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin wind energy development stands still because of local opposition to wind siting. In other words, local opposition hasn’t stopped Wisconsin utilities from developing and electricity customers from using wind-generated electricity. The opposition just sends the jobs to workers in Iowa and Minnesota.
by jboullion | Jun 5, 2009 | Uncategorized
A story from WEAU News:
A western Wisconsin hospital wants to harness some of the mighty Mississippi’s power for its own energy needs.
Gundersen Lutheran Hospital is hoping to get approved to build seven hydrokinetic turbines at a Mississippi River dam, which the hospital says would provide about 90% of its energy needs. The hospital says it would take millions of dollars to create, and would use a local power company to convert the power. It’s in the permit stages now, which the hospital says could take three years.
“Versus wind which you never know whether the wind is going to be blowing or the sun is going to be shining so we think that this is a really good alternative as a renewable energy source,” says Jeff Rich with Gundersen Lutheran.
Rich says the hospital could recoup the cost of the project in about ten years.
by jboullion | Jun 5, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Kathleen Gallagher in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
A year ago, Erik Lindberg rented a boom lift with a bucket and hoisted 15 cubic yards of dirt to the roof of his north side remodeling business. In the process, he planted himself firmly in the middle of a growing urban agriculture movement.
Lindberg, owner of Community Building & Restoration, turned to rooftop gardening in the belief that his actions might encourage people to grow their own food or buy locally grown produce.
And by selling the vegetables he grows to subscribers and a nearby Outpost Natural Foods store, he may have become Milwaukee’s first commercial rooftop farmer.
“It’s an experiment,” said Lindberg, 42. “Can you develop a business plan out of something like this? The answer is, I don’t know yet.”
Rooftop farming is in its infancy, but the potential is enormous, said Steven Peck, founder and president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a 10-year-old Toronto-based association that claims more than 5,000 members.
“We have probably a handful of projects. A lot of the rooftop gardening we do may have a commercial or selling component, but it’s often set up because of the social benefits it provides,” Peck said. Those benefits include improved health, less stress, a sense of community among tenants of a building, better caretakers and lower crime rates, he said.
Green evolution
Restaurants such as Frontera Grill and Uncommon Groundin Chicago were among the pioneers of rooftop gardening.
Milwaukee is an evolving “green roof” community, Peck said.
Among the local buildings featuring rooftop gardens are a City of Milwaukee building at 809 Broadway; the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District building at 260 W. Seeboth St.; the Highland Gardens Public Housing Facility; the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Great Lakes WATER Institute; the Karen Peck Katz Conservation Education Center at the Milwaukee County Zoo; the Urban Ecology Center next to Riverside University High School; and the Grohmann Museum at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
