by jboullion | Sep 10, 2012 | Uncategorized
Do you want the good news first, or the bad news? Two important news pieces for today:
The bad news comes from a press release from Grothman this morning who wishes to introduce a bill freezing the Renewable Portfolio Standard at 2012 levels. Certainly a step backwards.
The good news for renewable energy comes from an article in the Harold Times Reporter Charlie Matthews.
“MANITOWOC — Richard Heyroth, 82, doesn’t have a “NIMBY” — Not In My Back Yard — attitude when it comes to erecting 499-foot wind towers on his dairy farm on Benzinger Road in the town of Mishicot.
Quite the opposite.
“I believe in alternative energy and wind turbines do not pollute,” said Heyroth, who has signed a lease with Hubertus, Wis.-based EE Services that may lead to the erection of four giant turbines on his land by the end of 2013.”
This article still notes the controversies surrounding the project, but it’s looking hopeful.
by jboullion | Sep 6, 2012 | Uncategorized
From an article in BizTimes:
“Menomonee Falls-based Kohl’s Department Stores today announced the company will expand its electric vehicle (EV) charging station initiative with 36 new stations across 18 additional Kohl’s locations by the end of fall 2012.
The expansion spans three new states, including Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, and adds additional locations to the company’s Texas EV program.
With the expansion, Kohl’s shoppers will be able to take advantage of a total of 101 charging stations at 52 Kohl’s locations across 14 states. Each of the participating Kohl’s locations will have two or three parking spaces reserved for EV drivers to charge at no cost while they shop.
The new locations in Wisconsin will include: one station at Kohl’s headquarters in Menomonee Falls; two stations at the Menomonee Falls Credit Center; two stations at Bayshore in Glendale; three stations at Madison West; and two stations in Johnson Creek.”
Read the full article here.
by jboullion | Sep 6, 2012 | Uncategorized
From an article in BizTimes:
“Menomonee Falls-based Kohl’s Department Stores today announced the company will expand its electric vehicle (EV) charging station initiative with 36 new stations across 18 additional Kohl’s locations by the end of fall 2012.
The expansion spans three new states, including Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, and adds additional locations to the company’s Texas EV program.
With the expansion, Kohl’s shoppers will be able to take advantage of a total of 101 charging stations at 52 Kohl’s locations across 14 states. Each of the participating Kohl’s locations will have two or three parking spaces reserved for EV drivers to charge at no cost while they shop.
The new locations in Wisconsin will include: one station at Kohl’s headquarters in Menomonee Falls; two stations at the Menomonee Falls Credit Center; two stations at Bayshore in Glendale; three stations at Madison West; and two stations in Johnson Creek.”
Read the full article here.
by Ed Blume | Sep 6, 2012 | Uncategorized
From an article in BizTimes:
“Menomonee Falls-based Kohl’s Department Stores today announced the company will expand its electric vehicle (EV) charging station initiative with 36 new stations across 18 additional Kohl’s locations by the end of fall 2012.
The expansion spans three new states, including Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, and adds additional locations to the company’s Texas EV program.
With the expansion, Kohl’s shoppers will be able to take advantage of a total of 101 charging stations at 52 Kohl’s locations across 14 states. Each of the participating Kohl’s locations will have two or three parking spaces reserved for EV drivers to charge at no cost while they shop.
The new locations in Wisconsin will include: one station at Kohl’s headquarters in Menomonee Falls; two stations at the Menomonee Falls Credit Center; two stations at Bayshore in Glendale; three stations at Madison West; and two stations in Johnson Creek.”
Read more
by jboullion | Sep 6, 2012 | Uncategorized
From an article in BizTimes:
“Menomonee Falls-based Kohl’s Department Stores today announced the company will expand its electric vehicle (EV) charging station initiative with 36 new stations across 18 additional Kohl’s locations by the end of fall 2012.
The expansion spans three new states, including Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, and adds additional locations to the company’s Texas EV program.
With the expansion, Kohl’s shoppers will be able to take advantage of a total of 101 charging stations at 52 Kohl’s locations across 14 states. Each of the participating Kohl’s locations will have two or three parking spaces reserved for EV drivers to charge at no cost while they shop.
The new locations in Wisconsin will include: one station at Kohl’s headquarters in Menomonee Falls; two stations at the Menomonee Falls Credit Center; two stations at Bayshore in Glendale; three stations at Madison West; and two stations in Johnson Creek.”
Read the full article here.
by jboullion | Sep 5, 2012 | Uncategorized
From an article in BizTimes by Molly Newman:
“Milwaukee area food waste will be used to generate power in an anaerobic digester that will be built at Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee.
The facility will be able to break down organic materials into methane gas, powering engines that will produce up to 2 megawatts of power. That adds up to about 16 million kilowatt hours per year, enough to power 1,500 homes, which will be sold back to Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Energy Corp.
“We will be producing the energy and selling it back to We Energies under a tariff agreement, which will then count toward their renewable energy portfolio standard requirements in Wisconsin,” said Jeff Crawford, tribal attorney general for the Forest County Potawatomi Community. The energy production will offset most of the Potawatomi Community’s energy costs throughout the state, and also renew its commitment to the environment, he said. The tribe has about 17,000 acres of land throughout Wisconsin”
Read the full article here.
by Ed Blume | Sep 5, 2012 | Uncategorized
From an article in BizTimes by Molly Newman:
“Milwaukee area food waste will be used to generate power in an anaerobic digester that will be built at Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee.
The facility will be able to break down organic materials into methane gas, powering engines that will produce up to 2 megawatts of power. That adds up to about 16 million kilowatt hours per year, enough to power 1,500 homes, which will be sold back to Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Energy Corp.
“We will be producing the energy and selling it back to We Energies under a tariff agreement, which will then count toward their renewable energy portfolio standard requirements in Wisconsin,” said Jeff Crawford, tribal attorney general for the Forest County Potawatomi Community.
The energy production will offset most of the Potawatomi Community’s energy costs throughout the state, and also renew its commitment to the environment, he said. The tribe has about 17,000 acres of land throughout Wisconsin”
Read the full article here.
by Ed Blume | Aug 31, 2012 | Uncategorized
Anti-wind forces plan to flood the meeting of the Town of Sherman (Sheboygan County) board to protest a four-turbine project proposed by Emerging Energies, a Wisconsin company.
The town board members need to hear from pro-wind advocates like you!
Can you possibly attend a pre-meeting at 5:30 on September 4 at Kettleview RE and then go to the public hearing?
Maureen Faller, co-owner of Kettleview RE, wrote a terrific guest column to lay out the benefits of wind energy, and she will lead the pre-meeting to give you ideas for what you might say if you want to speak during the public hearing.
You don’t have to say anything, if you don’t want to. Your presence will speak volumes!
The anti-wind forces ran ads in local papers to turn rally more people to their obstructionist effort.
We’re up against well-funded, well-organized zealots!
Speak up for wind!!
by jboullion | Aug 31, 2012 | Uncategorized
From an article in the Journal Sentinel, read the whole article here.
Study seeks data on mid-water winds
The notion is intoxicating: Capture the wind that has buffeted boaters on the Great Lakes for centuries and convert it into clean, renewable energy. But one important piece of data has been missing: We don’t know exactly how windy it is out there.
Soon, we will.
A floating research platform launched to collect data on wind speeds high above the water in the middle of Lake Michigan has begun feeding the information to researchers involved in a $3 million project.
“We’re capturing some of the very first data,” said Arnold “Arn” Boezaart, director of the Michigan Alternative & Renewable Energy Center at Grand Valley State University in Muskegon, which is leading the research. “The wind data that we’re bringing on shore – when I brought the first data cards on shore, I felt like I was bringing gold bullion.”
The WindSentinel research platform, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the State of Michigan, We Energies and the Sierra Club, uses laser-pulse radar technology to gather information about wind speeds at heights in excess of 500 feet above water.
A partnership of Axys Technologies in Vancouver, British Columbia, and a Virginia company called Catch the Wind incorporated the laser and radar technology into a wind-measuring platform that is powered with renewable energy sources – primarily wind and solar, but also biodiesel. The platform was the first one deployed in North America and the only one on the Great Lakes. Another was deployed recently in the Atlantic Ocean off New Jersey.
Previous Great Lakes studies have indicated there are strong winds midlake, but wind monitors in the lake today measure wind speeds at only 10 to 12 feet off the water, well below the height that would be used to generate electricity from wind. There has been no hard data documenting wind speeds at the height where a turbine’s blades would turn.
Preliminary results from the new project look promising: Data from June showed an average wind speed of 22 mph 410 feet above the water.
“Based on our early assessments of the average data that we’re gathering, there clearly is a very robust wind resource out over Lake Michigan,” Boezaart said. Wind speeds over 15 to 20 mph are considered commercially viable for wind generation, he said.
Read more…
by Ed Blume | Aug 31, 2012 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; read the whole article here.
Study seeks data on mid-water winds
The notion is intoxicating: Capture the wind that has buffeted boaters on the Great Lakes for centuries and convert it into clean, renewable energy. But one important piece of data has been missing: We don’t know exactly how windy it is out there.
A floating research platform launched to collect data on wind speeds high above the water in the middle of Lake Michigan has begun feeding the information to researchers involved in a $3 million project.
“We’re capturing some of the very first data,” said Arnold “Arn” Boezaart, director of the Michigan Alternative & Renewable Energy Center at Grand Valley State University in Muskegon, which is leading the research. “The wind data that we’re bringing on shore – when I brought the first data cards on shore, I felt like I was bringing gold bullion.”
The WindSentinel research platform, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the State of Michigan, We Energies and the Sierra Club, uses laser-pulse radar technology to gather information about wind speeds at heights in excess of 500 feet above water.
A partnership of Axys Technologies in Vancouver, British Columbia, and a Virginia company called Catch the Wind incorporated the laser and radar technology into a wind-measuring platform that is powered with renewable energy sources – primarily wind and solar, but also biodiesel. The platform was the first one deployed in North America and the only one on the Great Lakes. Another was deployed recently in the Atlantic Ocean off New Jersey.
Previous Great Lakes studies have indicated there are strong winds midlake, but wind monitors in the lake today measure wind speeds at only 10 to 12 feet off the water, well below the height that would be used to generate electricity from wind. There has been no hard data documenting wind speeds at the height where a turbine’s blades would turn.
Preliminary results from the new project look promising: Data from June showed an average wind speed of 22 mph 410 feet above the water.
Based on our early assessments of the average data that we’re gathering, there clearly is a very robust wind resource out over Lake Michigan,” Boezaart said. Wind speeds over 15 to 20 mph are considered commercially viable for wind generation, he said.
Read more…
