by jboullion | Dec 19, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a story John Dobberstein in the Racine Journal Times:
RACINE — Bringing a modern amenity to an aging building, contractors Thursday continued installing solar panels on the roof of Walden III School.
The sun peeked out from the clouds during the frosty morning as electricians wired up two banks of solar panels that, when operational, will boost Walden’s certification with the state as a “Green and Healthy School.”
Between three major grants and several student fundraisers, the community at Walden III, 1012 Center St., raised more than $140,000 in about a year’s time to have 70 205-watt panels purchased and installed on the roof.
Walden will sell the electricity generated by the 14.4-kilowatt system back to We Energies at twice the rate the utility sells it for. The profits, estimated at $4,000a year, will be used for more energy-saving projects at the school.
Walden has been threatened with closure because of its age, said high school English teacher Tom Rutkowski. One area of the campus dates back to the 1860s.
“There is some educational value for students and it’s good for the school to see something new happening here,” said Rutkowski, who helped spearhead the solar project.
We Energies contributed $52,000 for the project and also paid for a weather station to be installed on the roof.
Wisconsin-based Focus on Energy, which promotes energy-efficient and renewable-energy projects, kicked in a $35,000 grant.
And the Kenosha-based Brookwood Foundation, which focuses on education, renewable energy and religious projects, also contributed grant money, although the foundation would not reveal the actual amount Thursday.
Educators Credit Union and the Racine Community Foundation are also sponsors of the project.
by jboullion | Dec 19, 2008 | Uncategorized
Two visitors at the MREA Energy Fair in June 2008 check out a solar oven on display in front of the MREA’s solar training structure.
From a statement of the Board of Directors of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) concerning proposed rulemaking by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce regarding Act 63, relating to a state electrical wiring code; regulation of electricians, electrical contractors, and electrical inspectors:
The Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) would like to point out that it is in the best interests of the people of Wisconsin for the Department of Commerce to take steps to ensure that renewable energy systems that generate electricity:
1. are installed in a safe and reliable manner;
2. are properly & efficiently configured to maximize energy production, and equipment lifespan;
3. are not unduly burdened with unnecessary labor and installation costs. . . .
Based on the collective experience of the solar professionals at the MREA, the best way to ensure the safety of Wisconsin’s citizens (with respect to solar electric systems) would be for the Department of Commerce to require that all solar electric systems be installed by NABCEP certified installers or persons who are legitimately in the final stages of NABCEP certification as recognized by the Wisconsin Focus On Energy program. We believe that requirements of Act 63 can be fulfilled by having a licensed electrician make the final connection to the AC power system.
Our many years of experience have shown that the Department could allow NABCEP certification to suffice for the installation and connection of solar electric systems without any compromise to the safety of the people of Wisconsin, if Act 63 allowed such leeway.
Installation of safe and reliable small wind power systems (up to 100 kW), also requires a very specialized set of skills that are not taught to electricians. Unfortunately, NAPCEP certification does not yet exist for the installers of small scale wind systems, although it is likely that a certification system will be in place by 2010. When this certification standard is available, Department of Commerce adoption of this standard will be the best route to ensuring safely installed small wind systems. Presently, utility-scale wind systems usually are installed in custom engineered systems by licensed electricians, but utility-owned systems are already exempt from Act 63.
by jboullion | Dec 18, 2008 | Uncategorized
An editorial from The Tomah Journal:
As of Friday, gas was $1.68.9 a gallon in Tomah, which is down from $4.06.9 a gallon in mid-summer. That’s an enormous swing, but here’s something that didn’t change: Oil is a finite resource and will be depleted one day. Does anyone believe, barring a Great Depression, that gas will be $1.68.9 a gallon two years from now? When it comes to developing renewable energy sources, there is no time like the present.
Fortunately, president-elect Barack Obama plans to make renewable energy a major part of an economic stimulus plan he’ll present to Congress shortly after his term begins next month. It’s important for the government to take the initiative because private markets won’t. There is simply too much price fluctuation, and if we wait for the market to develop alternative fuels and alternative vehicles, it won’t happen until a more expensive crash program is required.
The government actually has a good record in research and development. It wasn’t the private sector that developed the atomic bomb, sent a man to the moon or created the infrastructure that led to the Internet. It was all done by government researchers who didn’t have to answer to stockholders who cared more about the next quarter than the next decade.
That doesn’t mean the private sector won’t have the largest role in getting alternative energy products to consumers. The private sector is far better equipped to manufacture, market and distribute profitable goods and services than the government. However, it’s the government, not the private sector, that has the luxury of funding research that doesn’t pay off immediately.
Research on alternative vehicles and renewable energy needed to power them can’t hinge on the price of gas in a given week. Perhaps the benefits won’t be felt immediately, but clean and renewable energy will benefit Americans long after next year’s stimulus package is passed.
by jboullion | Dec 17, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a story posted on WKBT-TV:
[The] Grand River Station in downtown La Crosse . . . which will be more than just a new place to catch the bus. “In addition to the transit center, there’s commercial space here as well as 87 residential apartments and condos; it’s a six-story building and it will bring a lot of people activity downtown La Crosse,” says La Crosse Transit Utility Manager Keith Carlson.
The $20 million construction project has been in the works for years, and will serve as the new hub for public transportation in La Crosse. The new station will serve more than just the River City, with routes going to other near-by areas. “I think that not only does this help within the city of La Crosse from a transportation standpoint, using mass transit, but I think it’s got an awful lot of potential of brining communities together,” says La Crosse Mayor Mark Johnsrud.
by jboullion | Dec 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article article by Deneen Smith in the Kenosha News:
Shawn Henoch can’t wait for frigid weather and the first serious heating bills of winter.
“I’m really looking forward to January and February to see,” Henoch said. “Who is excited to get their electric bill? But I am.”
Henoch hired a company to do an energy efficiency overhaul of her 60-year-old Kenosha home this year. The work was completed in June, and she said she’s already seen a dramatic reduction in her energy bills and an improvement in the coziness-factor of her home.
The project sealed air leaks in the house, added insulation in the walls and ceiling, and replaced an old, inefficient furnace and air conditioner.
Before the overhaul, her typical winter heating bills were about $400 “and that was keeping my heat set at 67 or 68,” she said. “Now I can really keep my house at 72, and my last bill was, I think, $136.”
Learn more about an energy efficiency evaluaition at Focus on Energy.
by jboullion | Dec 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by Nick Paulson in the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune:
STEVENS POINT — The average American has gained 10 pounds in the past decade, and the extra weight is helping cause climate change.
“What that means is that the airlines that crisscross this country burn 350 million more gallons of jet fuel every year, schlepping around that extra weight,” said Terry Tamminen. “If all of us, myself included, would lose that 10 pounds, the planet would be better off and so would we.”
The idea may be a little harsh, but it is the kind of forward thinking Tamminen is known for and has helped him land some of the most prestigious climate jobs in the country. He has worked as the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Thursday night was part of a conference call with the transition team for President-elect Barack Obama.
Tamminen was Friday morning’s keynote speaker at the Wisconsin Climate Change Summit at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
From ideas such as his weight loss theory to broader changes like converting 1.2 million buildings nationwide to more efficient systems, Tamminen shared four steps he believes will stimulate the economy and create a more sustainable country: renewables, efficiency, markets and democracy.
by jboullion | Dec 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by K.J. Lang in the La Crosse Tribune:
Western’s newest vehicle is a commitment to environmental sustainability and a conversation starter.
“People practically break their neck to look at you,” said Marlin Peterson, site supervisor for Per Mar Security at Western.
Marlin Peterson, Per Mar Security sight supervisor at Western Technical College, gets back into Western’s new NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) while working parking detail Thursday.
Peterson drives the $13,000 vehicle around campus for parking enforcement and security. He often stops to answer questions about the vehicle, a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle or NEV, that runs on eight, six-volt batteries.
It costs considerably less than the previous security department fleet vehicle, a Chevy Malibu. A typical fleet vehicle had cost the department about 48 cents per mile to run; the NEV costs about 3 cents per mile.
by jboullion | Dec 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a story by Larry Sandler in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
A new study by a libertarian think tank claims the projected economic benefits of a proposed Milwaukee-to-Kenosha commuter rail line have been inflated and questions its ridership estimates.
But a business leader noted that the author of the study, Los Angeles-based transit consultant Tom Rubin, took a far more positive view of the $200 million project in June, when pro-transit business leaders were pushing the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority to hire him as the authority’s consultant. And a regional planner said the commuter rail projections were sound.
The Reason Foundation study, being released today, says the transit authority should consider express buses as an alternative to the KRM Commuter Link, which would connect downtown Milwaukee and the southern suburbs to Racine and Kenosha with 14 round trips each weekday.
Rubin said his latest study wasn’t meant to bash the KRM, but to highlight the advantages of bus options.
“We’re not saying that KRM is a dumb idea and it should be dropped,” Rubin said Monday. “I am not saying that KRM is going to fail. I am saying there are other options that should be studied before you make that commitment.”
by jboullion | Dec 15, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article article by Deneen Smith in the Kenosha News:
Shawn Henoch can’t wait for frigid weather and the first serious heating bills of winter.
“I’m really looking forward to January and February to see,” Henoch said. “Who is excited to get their electric bill? But I am.”
Henoch hired a company to do an energy efficiency overhaul of her 60-year-old Kenosha home this year. The work was completed in June, and she said she’s already seen a dramatic reduction in her energy bills and an improvement in the coziness-factor of her home.
The project sealed air leaks in the house, added insulation in the walls and ceiling, and replaced an old, inefficient furnace and air conditioner.
Before the overhaul, her typical winter heating bills were about $400 “and that was keeping my heat set at 67 or 68,” she said. “Now I can really keep my house at 72, and my last bill was, I think, $136.”
Learn more about an energy efficiency evaluaition at Focus on Energy.
by jboullion | Dec 15, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by Mark Sommerhauser in the La Crosse Tribune:
A proposal for high-speed rail service from Chicago to St. Paul – with stops in La Crosse and Winona, Minn. – is gaining new steam, buoyed by new federal interest in passenger rail and an aggressive push from St. Paul-area officials.
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Ramsey County officials are engaging leaders in Winona and other Minnesota municipalities on Amtrak’s Empire Builder line, which they say could eventually be improved to carry high-speed trains if federal lawmakers fund the project as early as 2009. Coleman and others say overhauling the Empire Builder line would fast-track Minnesota’s best bid for high-speed rail, though the proposal may face questions from state officials and Rochester leaders who hope to be included on a new route.
A high-speed rail on the Empire Builder line, which runs from Chicago to La Crosse, and up the Mississippi River through St. Paul, was first proposed in a 2004 study by transportation departments in Minnesota and 10 other Midwest states. That study estimated an upfront cost of $1.86 billion to improve the line and proposed running five, 110-mph trains per day on the route.
Now, with Amtrak ridership climbing, President-elect Obama and other newly elected Democrats are discussing an ambitious, nationwide effort to fund high-speed rail, possibly as part of a stimulus package focused on infrastructure projects. The sudden prospect of federal support has put supporters in high gear: Mayor Jerry Miller confirmed he plans to meet with Coleman and Rep. Tim Walz, DFL-Minn., next week to discuss high-speed rail.
