by jboullion | Sep 28, 2009 | Uncategorized
Focus on Energy announced that customers of Trempealeau Municipal Electric Department will become eligible for programs and services from Focus on Energy:
Customers will be able to participate in the Business, Residential and Renewable Energy offerings under the Focus on Energy umbrella:
· Business Programs that help manufacturers, commercial businesses, farmers, schools and local governments reduce operating costs, increase their bottom line and improve productivity and employee and customer comfort. The programs offer technical expertise, training and financial incentives to help implement innovative energy management projects.
· Wisconsin ENERGY STAR Homes, Home Performance with ENERGY STAR and Apartment & Condo Efficiency Services Programs that encompass new and existing homes, multi-family construction and remodeling projects for all types of residential dwellings. These programs help homeowners and landlords integrate energy improvements into their remodeling projects, as well as deliver newly-built homes, apartments and condominiums that are comfortable, safe, durable and energy efficient.
· Lighting and appliance programs that increase the availability of ENERGY STAR qualified products ranging from compact fluorescent light bulbs to heating and cooling equipment. These efforts deliver lower energy bills for residents and businesses and increased sales for retailers and contractors.
· Renewable Energy Programs that help residents and businesses harness energy from sunlight, wind and organic materials.
· Targeted Home Performance that reduces energy bills while increasing comfort and safety for income-qualified participants.
by jboullion | Sep 28, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Panel by panel, small-scale solar power is building around the state.
Solar photovoltaic systems capable of generating about 15 kilowatts of electricity were connected to the power grid Friday at the intermediate and high schools in Shorewood. That’s about enough to power two homes.
It’s among nearly 600 projects installed across Wisconsin with financial support from the state Focus on Energy program.
The two systems in Shorewood were installed by UrbanRE Vitalization Group LLC of Milwaukee.
The Shorewood project was financed with the help of a $35,000 grant from the state Focus on Energy program and a $50,000 grant from We Energies.
“By helping clients work with both Focus on Energy and We Energies, we will be able to extend our reach and get more people to start thinking about renewable energy,” said Lisa Schaal of UrbanRE.
by jboullion | Sep 25, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Sarah Lozanova in RenewableEnergyWorld.com:
Currently about 85,000 people are employed in the wind energy industry, up from 50,000 last year. These jobs are very diverse, and include turbine manufacturing, wind farm development, wind farm construction, and turbine maintenance.
Developing an industrial-scale wind farm requires a team of people with a variety of abilities. Here’s a look at some of the jobs involved as well as the skills necessary for this line of work. . . .
by jboullion | Sep 25, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Kyra Shishko in The Badger Herald (Madison, WI):
A forum regarding the rise of green jobs is slated to take place at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Monday.
The event is following a similar forum held in Madison this past Friday, which was sponsored jointly by the Wisconsin School of Business, the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Counsel and the Law Firm of Godfrey and Kahn.
Green jobs are jobs that not only create opportunities for unemployed individuals, but also help to reduce waste and pollution and benefit the environment, said Thomas Egger, associate director of the Business, Enviornment and Social Responsibility program at the Wisconsin School of Business.
“What we wanted to do was bring some very knowledgeable people together to talk about both what’s happening in our climate and identify why we’re talking about climate change and green jobs together,” Eggert said. “Most of what we are talking about links to green jobs.”
Eggert added the key topic of the discussion Friday was how to prepare for climate change in residences and how to create more jobs involving re-insulating houses, putting in new windows and other energy-efficient changes.
“We ask the public to look at how they are heating their houses,” Eggert said.
Eggert added these ideas could create up to 200,000 to 300,000 jobs.
Government Affairs Director of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce Steven Bass agreed the importance of the correlation between the struggling economy and the opportunity to create new jobs to help the environment is the driving force behind next week panel discussion in Milwaukee.
“Everyone in business knows that a strong economy and a good environment do not need to be mutually exclusive. The economic landscape, both nationally and globally, is more competitive than ever,” Bass said. “If a state can put itself at the forefront of energy efficiency it has the potential to create a competitive edge, especially for us here in Wisconsin.”
by jboullion | Sep 25, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a story by John DesRivieres on WSAW-TV:
With issues like the economy and health care on every body’s mind, it can be easy to forget about environmental issues.
But there’s a little known place in the Northwoods, where scientists are working with government officials to help make a greener nation.
“It’s used by legislators, policy makers, forest managers,” says Eric Gustafson, the Director of Applied Eco-Systems Studies.
Eric Gustafson says he knows as well as anybody how important energy independence is.
“The nation has a growing demand for energy, we’ve come to realize for a number of reasons that dependence on foreign oil is not a good thing,” Gustafson says.
Gustafson and a team of scientists are conducting several studies that will help shape the nation’s environmental policies.
At the top of the list, renewable energy.
The Institute is researching how to grow hybrid poplar trees that can grow up to four times faster than an average tree.
Poplar trees are a great source of ethanol and can be burned to create electricity.
“The ability to grow trees rapidly and convert them into energy has a great impact not only for the climate but the stability of politics in the world,” says Gustafson.
by jboullion | Sep 25, 2009 | Uncategorized
Commentary by
Peter Maldonado
RENEW Wisconsin
September 25, 2009
A document released by the wind opposition group Coalition for Wisconsin’s Environmental Stewardship (CWESt) claims to find a cause-effect link between wind turbines and reduced property values, but the self-described study fails to provide significant statistical data supporting its contention. The document, titled “Wind Turbine Impact Study,” also contains a “literature review” that turns out to be nothing more than a Google search trawling through opposition web sites for subject matter.
Given CWESt’s opposition to expanding wind generating facilities in Wisconsin, one can understand the organization’s decision to release a preliminary draft of this paper only a few days before the Legislature’s vote on Senate Bill 185, a bill directing the Public Service Commission to develop uniform permitting standards for wind energy systems. As stated in the cover page, the author, Appraisal Group One (AGO), specializes in “forensic appraisal, eminent domain, stigmatized properties and valuation research.” Our aim here is not to criticize the stated purpose of the report, merely to assess the validity of its methods and results. As the old adage goes, “garbage in, garbage out.”
The first part of the study is an opinion survey of realtors including salespeople, brokers, appraisers, and land developers. The study lists the number of titles represented, not the actual number of people surveyed, and therefore the number sounds inflated. “Licensed Real estate salesperson” comprised the largest group at 34, yet a later figure shows that only 18 respondents actually listed and sold a property with a view of turbines. This survey records every realtor’s opinion on this matter even though only half of them have had direct experience with properties near wind turbines.
The problem posed by a sparse sample size has a more profound effect on the ensuing study of property values. The paper looks at transactions near the Blue Sky Green Field (Fond du Lac County) and Forward (Fond du Lac and Dodge counties) wind farms and compares them with areas without wind turbines. Curiously, Alliant’s Cedar Ridge project was not assessed due to lack of data, so the paper states, even though that project also went on line in 2008. There were only six sales of properties recorded within the area of each wind farm. AGO’s graphs point out how far below the curve the values of the properties within the wind farm are, but six is hardly a significant number to sample. The samples of out-of-area sales that form the curves for Blue Sky Green Field and Forward are small in their own right (62 and 28, respectively). Compare those small data sets with the 811 transactions within Kewaunee County alone that factor into the forthcoming Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) analysis at ten different sites nationwide.
The final section, the literature review, attacks wind turbines from all angles, straying from the paper’s ostensible purpose of analyzing property values. In a nutshell, this section surveys a broad range of impacts, including health, safety, wildlife, land use, quality of life, technological performance, tax policy and local economic effects. We tried an experiment and found that most of the bibliography contents can be located by using Google and searching for “property value impact wind turbine.” Not surprising, most of the web sites that appear in the search results are operated by groups opposed to wind development, presumably to support additional restrictions on windpower development. Nearly all of the citations can be found on these websites. To the extent the references include studies that were not negative to windpower development, they are dismissed in the CWESt paper as examples of propaganda underwritten by the wind industry. Moreover, one of the studies that found no significant impacts was brushed off as a masters thesis of an environmental science graduate student, a detail that might lead a reader to question the credibility of the source material.
As it turns out, the graduate student in question is Ben Hoen, whose novel and methodologically rigorous study of wind turbine impacts in New York state took into account viewshed effects. This approach is one of three tests incorporated in the aforementioned LBNL study. One line of research examines to what effect distance from turbines may have on property values after the facility was constructed. Another compares viewshed impacts on home sales and property values. The third test attempts to detect nuisance effects on property values. Expected to be released later this year, the LBNL report shapes up to be the most rigorous study on the subject of property values and wind turbines. Compared with the robustness of this forthcoming report, bolstered by 811 transactions in Wisconsin, the CWESt paper is weak tea, light on data and lacking in scientific integrity. Even though the data collection and analysis process is complete, LBNL will not publish its report until its findings have been thoroughly peer-reviewed. Until CWESt’s paper goes through a similarly rigorous review process, its findings should be taken with a grain of salt.
Peter Maldonado is a volunteer for RENEW Wisconsin, a sustainable energy advocacy organization. Peter holds a B.A. in Environmental Policy from Lawrence University. These commentaries also posted on RENEW’s blog: http://renewwisconsinblog.org
