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…
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 29, 2012 | Uncategorized
Impact of 1603 Treasury Grant Stimulus
Program
·
Number of Wisconsin
renewable energy projects: 180
o
11 Biogas
o
3 Geothermal
o
28 Small Wind
o
1 Large Wind
o
13 Solar Thermal
o
124 Solar
Electric
·
Federal grants to
projects: $38 million
·
Estimated total
project costs: $127 million [1]
·
Economic Impact
from projects in Wisconsin [2]
o
Construction
jobs: 1,000-1,500
o
Construction
earning: $60 -90 million
o
Construction
impact: $170-280 million
o
Operation and
Maintenance jobs: 40
o
Operation and
Maintenance earning: $2.1-2.5 million
o
Operation and
Maintenance economic impact: $10.1-10.6 million
by jboullion | Aug 24, 2012 | Uncategorized
A thank you letter from RENEW Executive Director Don Wichert:
Thanks for stopping by the RENEW Wisconsin booth or talking with me at the Polk County Energy Fair.
RENEW is the organized voice for clean renewable energy in Wisconsin, and as a membership organization, we critically need your support to effectively advocate for businesses, organizations, and individuals who seek more, clean renewable energy in Wisconsin.
We have an aggressive agenda for the remainder of 2012, and by working together we can organize to implement positive change in Wisconsin’s renewable energy landscape.
Despite the many challenges we face, RENEW continues to advance the following positive policy agenda to expand renewable energy for everyone in Wisconsin:
- Build a coalition in support of our Clean Energy Choice initiative, which would allow customers to purchase renewable energy from systems located on their premises and owned by third parties;
- Represent renewable energy stakeholders at the PSC and with the Focus on Energy administrators to offer proactive options for the renewable energy program;
- Improve the state’s outdated interconnection requirements. We are proud of our work to organize Wisconsin’s renewable energy stakeholders into a community that speaks with one voice. But we need your active participation to advocate on your behalf.
Please become a RENEW member by making a tax-deductible donation to RENEW: Join RENEW. Help us push the renewable energy envelop in Wisconsin to a new level for the remainder of 2012.
Feel free to contact me with suggestions or if there are ways that RENEW can assist you.
Sincerely,
Don Wichert
Executive Director
RENEW Wisconsin
by jboullion | Aug 16, 2012 | Uncategorized
RENEW Wisconsin invites our members and other renewable energy supporters to our membership meeting at the Polk County Energy Fair, 1:00 p.m., August 18, in St. Croix Falls. If you are not yet a member, please Join Today!
For the meeting’s highlight, I’ll release an evaluation of major Wisconsin utilities’ commitment to renewable energy — Xcel actually does reasonably well — and invite area media to cover the evaluation announcement, meeting, and fair.I’ll also report on the progress RENEW has made in advancing three statewide priorities that should be beneficial in northwest Wisconsin as well:
- Build a coalition in support of our Clean Energy Contract initiative, which would allow customers to purchase renewable energy from systems located on their premises and owned by third parties;
- Represent renewable energy stakeholders at the PSC and with the Focus on Energy administrators to offer proactive options for the renewable energy program;
- Improve utilities’ outdated interconnection requirements.
RENEW thanks the sponsors of the meeting:
Chippewa Valley Alternative Energy, a small, family-owned business in west-central Wisconsin, has been involved in the alternative energy field in for over 25 years, and has been heavily involved in many aspects of thermal, pyrolation and gasification energy technologies; and, Jeff Peterson, a RENEW member, are sponsoring RENEW’s membership/public meeting at the Polk County Energy Fair, August 18, at 1:00 pm in St. Croix Falls.
