by jboullion | Apr 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Wayne Nelson on BusinessNorth.com:
The Marshfield Clinic is incorporated sustainability principles in the construction of a $42 million new hospital campus under construction in Rice Lake.
BWBR Architects in St. Paul and its design partners have designed the project to conserve natural resources, reduce operating energy costs, and provide a quality indoor environment, said Edward Wolf, chief executive at Lakeview Medical Center in Rice Lake. . . .
The project’s energy-saving features include efficient lighting, air conditioning and plumbing systems. Lakeview’s board of directors committed to maximum energy use 15 percent below the state’s current building code limit. To meet that goal, the building ventilation design will recover heat from air exhausted out of the building that will heat incoming air, said mechanical engineer Linda Weingarten of Minneapolis-based Dunham & Associates, the project consulting engineering firm.
Heat given off by chillers that cool the building will be used to heat hot water, lowering electric usage during summer, she said.
“This isn’t new technology, but it’s the first time we’ve used it in a hospital project,” she said. The design is expensive, and wouldn’t be cost-effective if retrofitted in an existing building, she said.
High efficiency condensing boilers also will help lower fuel consumption year round.
Increased roof insulation values and high performance windows also will help reduce energy costs.
by jboullion | Apr 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a story on WXOW-TV:
LA CROSSE, Wisconsin (WXOW) Dairyland Power serves a half a million households in their system.
Currently, more than 90 percent of their energy is produced from coal.
However, officials say Dairyland wants to have 25 percent of their power be produced by sustainable renewables, like wind and solar, by 2025.
Dairyland isn’t the only one looking at making a transition away from coal.
Today, Secretary of State Building Commission David Helbach spoke at UW-L about how Wisconsin is trying to covert its state institutions from coal consumers.
There are 16 heating state plants that heat and cool institutions using some amount of coal.
These heating plants can be found at variety of places from government buildings to college campuses, including UW-La Crosse.
Secretary of State Building Commission David Helbach says, “Coal has about twice the pollutants as natural gas so just by changing the fuel you reduce your emissions by half.”
The state wants to transition the biggest users of coal first, which are not university’s like UW-L.
That means the university will be put on the back burner.
Helbach, “We’d like to do some of the other plants first so this plant may not be until the first round, maybe on the second or third round”
Since Dairlyand’s transition can’t happen over night either, it is taking steps to make coal burning more environmentally friendly, like recycling by it byproducts and installing a scrubber system and bag house to make air safer.
by jboullion | Apr 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a Community Conversation column by Bob Cleaves, president of the Biomass Power Association, in the Sheboygan Press:
Wisconsin is in the midst of a serious debate about the environmental impact of biomass power, and whether increasing their use of clean, renewable biomass for electricity could potentially lead to unintended negative consequences, specifically with respect to forest health and greenhouse gas emissions. The truth, however, is that increasing our use of biomass power will improve forest health in Wisconsin and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.
Biomass power is carbon neutral electricity generated from renewable organic waste that would otherwise be dumped in landfills, openly burned or left as fodder for forest fires.
On average, America’s biomass power industry removes 68.8 million tons of forest waste annually, improving forest health and dramatically reducing the threat of forest fires. This forest waste includes dead debris and brush left to rot on the forest floor. Clearing this debris is a part of regular forest maintenance and is frequently done by state forest services in the form of open burns.
By using this waste to generate electricity, the biomass power industry is preventing the need for open burns and significantly reducing the risk and spread of forest fires. Waste byproducts from other industries and organic waste from the forest floor continue to be the only economically viable fuel sources for biomass power.
Fuel providers to the biomass power industry do not harvest wood solely for the purpose of generating electricity — forests are simply far too valuable.
by jboullion | Apr 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
The turbine will serve the Green Leaf Inn in Walworth County.
by jboullion | Apr 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a story on WXOW News 19, La Crosse:
Matching funds boost total to $106,374
MADISON – Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman today announced a Wisconsin Industry Partnership training grant of $53,105 to help meet the skilled workforce needs of an expanding food resource and agribusiness sector in western Wisconsin.
DWD’s regional partner, the Western Wisconsin Workforce Development Board, and 20 employers in the Food Resource and Agribusiness Network (FRAN) will provide $53,269 in matching funds for a project total of $106,374.
“These resources demonstrate how by working together, we can meet the needs of employers and prepare workers for jobs of tomorrow, resulting in a stronger Wisconsin economy,” DWD Secretary Roberta Gassman said. “One of the region’s main economic strengths is its agriculture and food processing industry. It is one reason why Wisconsin is a leading state in organic farming. The grant will help the food and agribusiness sector grow and create more jobs.”
One FRAN employer includes Organic Valley of La Farge, the largest organic farm cooperative in the country. For over two decades, the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service has held its annual convention in La Crosse. Sales of organic products total nearly $133 million annually in Wisconsin.
Another FRAN partner is Kwik Trip, which is doubling the size of its bakery, a $30 million project expected to add more than 100 jobs. Last year, the western Wisconsin region’s food resource and agribusiness sector had 3,374 jobs, and it is projected to add jobs in coming years.
by jboullion | Apr 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin:
MADISON – The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) is seeking public comments for a biomass-fired power plant project proposed by Wisconsin Electric Power Company (WEPCO) in Rothschild.
In March 2010, WEPCO filed an application with the PSC for permission to build a 50-megawatt, woody biomass-fired, cogeneration power plant on the Domtar Corporation paper mill property. This newly proposed unit would require about 500,000 tons of biomass fuel per year. It is expected that the fuel would largely be sourced from within a 75-mile or possibly a 100-mile radius of the plant.
Comments on the proposed project will be accepted until June 1, 2010. The comments are considered when staff is analyzing the proposal. Hearings to take testimony from the public regarding the project are expected to be held later this year. . . .
To comment on the proposed project, visit the PSC’s website at http://psc.wi.gov, click on the Public Comments button and choose We Energies (WEPCO) Rothschild Biomass Cogen Project. For documents associated with the case, visit the PSC’s website at http://psc.wi.gov.
