by jboullion | Nov 13, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by Julie Lawrence at OnMilwaukee.com
While new fuel efficient cars and home solar panels are some of the most powerful ways to reduce our carbon footprint, a $25,000 investment is usually out of the question for most college students who are already battling rapidly increasing education costs.
But what about spending $16? Two University of Wisconsin student entrepreneurs say it can go further than you might think.
Mechanical engineering major Ted Durkee and business partner Brandon Gador, a recent graduate of Madison’s School of Business, launched Powered Green this past October to provide an economical way for anyone to support renewable energy.
Their product, Energy Seal, is a recycled aluminum laptop sticker that funds carbon offsets. At $16, the cost of the sticker covers the production of enough renewable energy to offset what an average laptop uses in its lifetime.
Amazingly, $14 is enough to subsidize the retail cost of the laptop’s lifetime energy consumption, paying for wind turbines that create electricity. The remaining $2 is for the actual seal, visual evidence that promotes the buyer’s support of the eco-friendly endeavor.
“It essentially has the effect of a wind turbine in your backyard without actually having one,” explains Durkee, who partnered Power Green with Village Green Energy, a renewable energy credit distributor based in California.
by jboullion | Nov 12, 2008 | Uncategorized
A Clear Horizons’ employee (in the red shirt) leads a tour of the biodigester on the Crave Brothers Farm near Waterloo. The bags along the low wall contain potting soil that includes fiberous material left after the digestion process.
Michael Vickerman previously addressed the need for higher buy-back rates in two proceedings at the Public Service Commission — the first in a rate case for Alliant Energy and the second in a WPS rate case. The rate issue ranks high on RENEW’s agenda for the next two years.
The excerpts below from a guest editorial by Richard R. Pieper Sr., chairman of Milwaukee’s PPC Partners Inc., in The Capital Times re-enforces Vickerman’s argument:
I’m told the following: the world is going green and Wisconsin wants to grow its business base. I believe the former but not the latter, because the Public Service Commission, utilities and some politicians in this state seem to consider both ideas about as important as what cricket team is the current world champion.
I proudly admit to having a horse in this race or at least a cow in the shed. PPC Partners Inc. is one of Wisconsin’s oldest, largest, employee-owned companies. It has over 1,000 employees throughout the U.S., but primarily in Wisconsin. It was started as Pieper Electric by my father, Julius Pieper, with five employees. We have an entrepreneurial spirit and believe in the creativity of Wisconsin workers.
In September, I was told by a group of CEOs that one of our cutting-edge subsidiaries, Clear Horizons LLC, should “locate in California, where you can get things done.” We absolutely do not want to relocate this company. We do want Wisconsin to give more than lip service to supporting alternative sources of energy.
Here’s what Clear Horizons does.
Clear Horizons has developed a solution to dairy farm manure disposal that not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions created by methane gas from the manure, but also provides enough alternative fuel from a herd of 750 cows to electrically power 200 homes. The equipment takes the methane and uses it to power engines that generate electricity which can be bought by utilities. A light bulb does not care if the current is produced by cows or coal. . . .
The lack of cooperation in this state has caused other companies like Microgy to leave for Texas. GHD, a similar company from Chilton, Wis., is doing work in Idaho and Mexico. Within the last 12 months, the states of California, Arizona and Vermont have passed legislation guaranteeing producers of biogas a minimum payment because those legislators understand America must become more energy independent, as well as reduce need for substations and transmission and subtransmission lines.
Jobs? Recent reports state green energy adds jobs. Every MW of biogas installed creates 35 jobs per year. The biogas potential in Wisconsin equates to 14,000 jobs created per year.
Currently, utilities have little incentive to promote alternative energy sources. They act according to federal mandates but are not creatively pursuing opportunities.
Cleaner air, more jobs; what’s not to like? We’re here. We’re ready. We’re necessary to the future of this state. We need some policies. Is anybody listening?
by jboullion | Nov 12, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a story by Dorothy Jasperson in the Westby Times:
The Westby Wind Energy project is no longer just blowing in the wind after Westby City Council members agreed with a planning commission consensus to offer conditional use permits to Heartland Wind LLC.
The permits are for the implementation of three wind turbines on city-owned and annexed land west of Westby. Heartland Wind LLC is the Illinois limited liability company that will be leasing land from the city of Westby and Glen Stalsberg, who owns property adjacent to the city.
The contract easement will allow Heartland Wind LLC to lease the property for 20 years, conduct soil testing, studies and surveys and make payments of $1,000 per year, per turbine site during construction phase and $6,000 annually per turbine once they are operational.
After the 20-year lease has expired the company may offer two five-year renewals for a possible total 30-year contract. Heartland Wind LLC will be responsible for property taxes as a result of the turbine installation and carry a broad form insurance policy against any liabilities incurred with the project. If the project fails Heartland Wind LLC would be responsible for the removal of all the facilities, including foundations to a depth of 48 inches and all removal would have to occur with six months of the contract cancellation. . . .
The initial project calls for the construction of three wind generated turbines at a cost of $3-4 million dollars per unit, with construction anticipated to begin in 2009 or early 2010. Once operational the wind turbines could produce up to 100 percent of the energy now used by residents in the city of Westby, depending on wind speeds and electricity usage, but that doesn’t equate to a reduction in residential and commercial electric rates since the power generated by the turbines from the test project will be purchased as a whole by WPPI, the power purchaser for the Westby Utilities. The overall savings as more natural energy is generated throughout the state by projects like the one EcoEnergy is developing in Westby will be seen in future savings by all WPPI members, not initial reductions for customers living where the wind turbines are located.
by jboullion | Nov 12, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by Shelley Nelson posted on RiverTowns.net:
Plans for a nearly seven-fold expansion of Murphy Oil’s Superior refinery are on hold.
The company, headquartered in El Dorado, Ark., is putting the brakes on detailed design engineering until it can find a partner to provide a reliable source of bitumen crude from the Canadian oil sands to feed the expanded facility.
The proposed project would increase the refinery’s processing capacity from 35,000 barrels of crude oil per day to 235,000 barrels per day, making the Superior refinery the largest rather than the smallest of Murphy Oil’s three refineries worldwide.
The company also operates a 120,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Meraux, La., and a 108,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Mill Haven, Wales.
The refinery is the only oil refinery in the state.
If it happens, the $6 billion investment – the largest in Wisconsin history – could create 300 permanent jobs and 3,000 to 4,000 construction jobs.
“We’ve beaten down doors trying to find a partner for the project,” said Jim Kowitz, interim manager of the Superior refinery. “We have not come up with a partner yet.”
The company needs a partner to ensure a crude supply from the oil sands in Alberta, Canada, for the expanded facility. However, with crude prices hitting record highs, Murphy Oil has found no takers for the partnership.
“With dropping crude prices – if demand stays up – it may look more favorable for Canadian producers to invest in,” Kowitz said. ” When crude is $140 a barrel, they’re making lots of money. When crude is $60 a barrel, they’re not making near as much, and they might be interested in spending money to get into the U.S. fuels market rather than just be a crude supplier. That’s our hope. If crude stays down for awhile, our project will look more attractive again.”
by jboullion | Nov 11, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a story by Anita Weier in The Capital Times:
The state Public Service Commission on Tuesday unanimously rejected a proposed 300-megawatt mostly coal-fired power plant proposed by Wisconsin Power & Light at Cassville.
In justifying their decision, commissioners cited the cost, inefficiency and carbon dioxide emissions of the plant.
“Based on the evidence, I find this particular project is not in the public interest,” said PSC Chairman Eric Callisto.
“Public comment was really significant,” said Commissioner Mark Meyer, praising the extent of public participation after he stated that he could not support the application because it did not meet fundamental requirements.
Commissioner Lauren Azar said the proposal would lock the state into a coal technology that may soon be obsolete.
by jboullion | Nov 11, 2008 | Uncategorized
Immediate release
November 11, 2008
More information
Michael Vickerman
608.332.1736 (cell)
608.819.0748 (office)
RENEW’s reaction to decision on Cassville plant
“In our eyes, Nelson Dewey 3 did not meet our criteria of a renewable energy facility,” said RENEW Executive Director Michael Vickerman. “The biomass component functioned as a sideshow to obscure the central premise of this plant, which is to burn nonrenewable Wyoming coal in a Wisconsin location. The truth is, there are far easier, more sustainable and less expensive ways to generate new sources of renewable energy in southwestern Wisconsin.”
“Approval of this plant, with its 80-20 coal-to-biomass fuel ratio, would actually make Governor Doyle’s goal of securing, by 2025, 25% of the energy from renewable energy resources a more difficult goal to attain,” Vickerman said. “We applaud the Commission for recognizing the incompatibility of Nelson Dewey 3 with the Administration’s environmental and economic development agenda.”
“Nelson Dewey 3 is an example of combining a 19th century fuel with 20th century combustion technology to tackle a 21st century problem,” Vickerman said. “We agree with the PSC that it clearly has no place in our future.”
Vickerman contrasted Alliant’s proposal with Xcel Energy’s recently announced proposal to convert Bay Front Power Plant in Ashland into a 100% biomass-fueled generating unit when completed. The proposal involves retrofitting an existing coal-fired unit with gasification technology to turn wood fuel and other biomass energy sources into a renewable gas, which will be fed into a new boiler.
“Unlike Nelson Dewey 3, what Xcel proposes to do would actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Wisconsin sources, not add to them,” Vickerman said. “Xcel’s initiative would actually reduce the state’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, not increase it.”
“The fact is, biomass energy generation can stand on its own two feet in the 21st century. Wisconsin doesn’t need a new coal plant just to make biomass a viable fuel. In fact, the state doesn’t need a coal plant, period,” Vickerman said.
END
RENEW Wisconsin is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives. More information on RENEW’s Web site at www.renewwisconsin.org.
by jboullion | Nov 11, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a story by David Steinkraus in The Journal Times (Racine):
A group representing three local counties and the governor is proposing a sales tax of up to .5 percent to fund public transit.
It’s easy to get lost in the details, but no one should ignore the magnitude of what happened on Monday morning, said Jody Karls, the city of Racine representative on the Regional Transit Authority.
What the RTA voted to do on Monday was ask the state to make it the permanent transit oversight body for southeast Wisconsin and to give it power to levy local sales taxes of up to 0.5 percent in each member area. That tax would fund the extension of Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail service from Kenosha through Racine and to Milwaukee, and would fund other transit modes such as city bus systems.
Beyond those specifics, Karls said, is the over-arching importance of having all the counties and municipalities along the potential KRM corridor speaking with a single voice.
He and other officials met with The Journal Times editorial board on Monday morning, a few hours after the RTA voted on its recommendations. It has a Nov. 15 deadline to report to Gov. Jim Doyle and the Legislature, and it would be up to them to grant the RTA’s requests.
by jboullion | Nov 10, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a story by Rick Olivo in The Daily Press:
Bayfield County could reasonably consider installing a commercial scale wind turbine on one of two possible locations in the county, says a preliminary assessment from a consulting professional engineer.
The report, released to members of the Bayfield County Board Executive Committee Thursday said a large-scale wind turbine would be “reasonably productive” if built on a Mount Ashwabay site or another Bayfield hills site west of the City of Bayfield.
“The county could either develop one of those sites or try to find a site closer to Washburn, where the wind turbine could be directly connected to its largest electric use buildings in Washburn,” said Robert H, Owen Jr., of Superior Safety and Environmental Services of Middleton. Owen said the Mt. Ashwabay site was large enough to accommodate about 12 600-kilowatt turbines, with a few more potentially sited on the upper reaches of the ski slope property. Owen said in the report that the county could consider selling the output from the wind turbines to Xcel Energy, or deliver most of its output to county offices and sell just the surplus energy.
While Owen said much research was needed into the amount of wind available from the Bayfield area sites, he said the amount of energy available to a single 600-kilowatt turbine could add up to 1.23 million kilowatt hours a year. Nevertheless, he was careful to emphasize that his estimates concerning available wind energy were only preliminary and could be seriously overstating or understating the amount of energy actually available. He said an absolute necessity to come up with accurate figures was a wind-speed study that could last a year or more at the sites.
Nevertheless, he said because of predictable future increases in the cost of electrical energy, the amount Bayfield County pays for electricity, currently put at five cents per kilowatt hour, could increase to 50 cents per kilowatt hour by the year 2030.
by jboullion | Nov 10, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by Dustin Block in The Daily Reporter:
Solar power, a renewable-energy casualty of the early 1990s slain by cheap fossil fuels, is showing signs of life.
The Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee is reviving a solar-powered heating system at its community center in the county’s Washington Park.
The solar-thermal system was built in the late-1970s as an alternative source of energy during the oil boycott. But as energy prices fell in the U.S. in the 1980s, interest in renewable energy waned and the Washington Park system was shut down.
Joey Zocher, the Urban Ecology Center’s Washington Park program manager, estimated the solar power system is worth about $250,000. But it will take at least $100,000 to get the community center system running again, she said. The building also needs a new roof.
“The county is supportive,” Zocher said, “but we still have some money to find.”
The story behind Washington Park’s solar experiment encapsulates the country’s experience with renewable resources, said Bob Ramlow, who has worked with solar power in Wisconsin since the 1970s and was one of the founders of the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in central Wisconsin.
“In the 1970s, the whole country was excited and thinking about saving energy,” he said. “People wanted to do their part. It was patriotic to be involved with renewable energy and energy conservation.”
Ramlow said the symbolic moment when the country abandoned that commitment was in 1981, when Ronald Reagan moved into the White House and, on his first day, had the solar collectors on the roof taken off.
“The word from the administration from then to now,” Ramlow said, “was renewable energy sources are the energy of the future, but now we need nuclear, coal and oil.”
He said it took nearly 30 years for renewable energy to recover in the U.S. But projects such as reviving solar energy in Washington Park suggest change is coming.
Shawn Young, solar thermal division director for Madison-based H & H Solar Energy Services, inspected Washington Park’s solar system last year. He sent a report to Milwaukee County concluding the system was worth saving.
“It’s not the best solar collector on the market,” Young said, “but it’s not obsolete.”
The system collects sunlight on the building’s roof and transfers the energy to a liquid that fuels the furnace and generates heat. When it was originally installed, the designers anticipated cutting energy use in the building by 60 to 80 percent. Now, the system could cut energy use 10 to 15 percent, Young said. The decline in savings is mainly because of the system’s age.
But even with the reduced efficiency, the county could save $1,000 a month on its heating bill, Zocher said. She estimated the investment needed to refurbish the Washington Park system would take eight years to pay back.
by jboullion | Nov 7, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a media advisory issued by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin:
This message is to inform you that the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) is expected to make a decision on the Alliant Energy proposed coal fire power plant next week Tuesday, November 11, at the PSC’s open commission meeting.
In early 2007, Alliant Energy filed an application with the PSC for permission to build a new 300 megawatt coal-fired electric generation facility. Alliant Energy has indentified two possible locations for the power plant – their Nelson Dewey Generating Station property in Cassville and the Columbia Energy Center in Portage. The PSC has the authority to approve, deny or modify any proposed electric construction project.
When: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 – 10:30 a.m.
Where: Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Amnicon Falls Hearing Room – 1st floor
610 N. Whitney Way, Madison WI
