by jboullion | May 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
From the Web site of Central Waters:
2009 has already brought about many changes and improvements for Central Waters Brewing Company. The biggest step has been the addition of roughly 1,000 square feet of solar collectors; 24 panels, in all. Solar collectors use energy emitted by the sun, and convert it into a more usable and/or storable form of power. The energy production of our new solar collectors is estimated to reach around 2500 therms per year. A payback from the system will be seen in about seven years, with an estimated savings of $1.4 to $1.5 million over the life of the system.
In addition to the new solar panels, Central Waters Brewing Company uses a radiant floor heating system, and more energy efficient lighting systems, motors in the equipment, and brewhouse. All of the materials used in the newly remodeled tap room are from recycled resources. Also, with the implementation of the new grain silo outside of the brewery, we are able to reduce the amount of packaging materials that come into the facility, therefore the amount of packaging that needs to be disposed of. In addition to the sustainability practices currently in use at the brewery, Central Waters works with local farmers to recycle the grain used in the brewing process. The spent grain is taken by these farmers and used as feed for livestock, and also used as compost.
The addition of the solar collectors, coupled with other sustainability practices, allows Central Waters Brewing Company to drastically reduce the consumption of natural gas, therefore greatly reduce our carbon footprint.
Central Waters Brewing Company…truly “making the world a better place, one beer at a time.”
by jboullion | May 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
From details of the Energy Fair, sponsored by the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, in Custer, Wisconsin:
Friday, June 19 at 1 pm
Antonia Juhasz
Antonia Juhasz is an author and political activist. She was the author of The Bush Agenda: Invading the World One Economy at a Time in 2006, Alternatives to Economic Globalization for which she received the 2004 Project Censored award. In 2008, she published The Tyranny of Oil.
Saturday, June 20 at 1 pm
Alan Weisman
Alan Weisman spoke at the 10th Anniversary Energy Fair, and we’re happy to have him join us another ten years later to celebrate our progress and help us look forward to another 20 years.
Alan Weisman is an author and journalist whose reports from around the world have appeared in Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, Orion, Wilson Quarterly, Vanity Fair, Mother Jones, Discover, and more.
His most recent book, The World Without Us, (a staff favorite) is a bestseller, and was named the Best Nonfiction Book of 2007 by both Time Magazine and Entertainment Weekly.
Sunday, June 21 at 1 pm
Wendy Williams
Wendy Williams, an is the author of Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound. The Wall Street Journal called Cape Wind “a ripe subject, populated with the sort of people who would be among the first to count themselves as friends of the Earth but the last to accept an environmentally friendly energy source if it meant the slightest cloud on their ocean views.”
Williams has written for many major publications, including Scientific American, The Christian Science Monitor, The Boston Globe, The Providence Journal and The Baltimore Sun. She has been journalist-in-residence at Duke University and at the Hasting Center. The author of several books, she lives on Cape Cod.
by jboullion | May 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by WISPIRG:
While many students head home, start their summer jobs, or begin long vacations, some students in the WISPIRG Student Chapters are hitting the road in support of high speed rail. Forty students will travel next week from Green Bay to Milwaukee to Madison to La Crosse over four days to show support for Wisconsin’s proposed high speed rail route.
President Obama seeks to connect our cities in “priority corridors” (including the Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison-Twin Cities route) with high speed rail. Congress this year passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will spend $8 billion for high speed rail on projects that have not yet been determined. Governor Doyle and WISDOT Secretary Busalacchi are advocating to bring high speed rail to Wisconsin; they are seeking Recovery funds to connect Madison and Milwaukee with intercity rail as part of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, a nine-state project that would connect over 100 Midwestern cities and link the region’s major economic centers. Doing so will give us more transportation choices, alternatives to lengthy airport delays, and reduced dependence on oil, while helping to rebuild our economy. Wisconsin would especially benefit because it is perfectly situated in the corridor connecting Chicago to the Twin Cities.
Enthusiasm for the project among students and other young people is infectious. At most stops students are planning a short bike route through each town to the location of the media event. WISPIRG students will wear matching t-shirts and carry a giant map of the proposed train route. Events will also include a human-powered train with many people, much like a Chinese dragon costume.
Come join us to show support for bringing high speed rail to Wisconsin!
Monday, May 25
10am Green Bay – National Railroad Museum
1pm Appleton – Houdini Plaza, downtown Appleton
3pm Oshkosh – Opera House Square
Tuesday, May 26
10am Milwaukee – Downtown Transit Center
1pm Brookfield – Town Hall
3pm Oconomowoc – Maxims, 115 E. Collins St.
Wednesday, May 27
10am Madison – State Capitol
3pm Portage – TBD
Thursday, May 28
10am Wisconsin Dells – TBD
3pm La Crosse – The Train Station, 601 St. Andrews
by jboullion | May 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Kathleen Gallagher in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
A California couple has pledged $5 million to endow a chair at Marquette University’s engineering school.
The Thomas H. and Suzanne M. Werner Chair in Secure and Renewable Energy Systems will lead a multidisciplinary research cluster of four to six faculty members and develop an advanced curriculum, said Stan Jaskolski, Marquette’s dean of engineering.
Marquette is working with the Milwaukee School of Engineering and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to create a major research cluster for sustainable energy, Jaskolski said.
“Gifts like this are just tremendous momentum builders,” he said.
Thomas Werner said his vision for the program is that it “trains new technologists in a new field and primes the pump for America to be the innovator in renewable energy.”
“Our hope is that we see tangible accomplishments in a field that’s important to the planet,” Werner said.
The gift will position Marquette as a leader in southeastern Wisconsin in this academic area, where students will work with faculty to pursue fields such as solar electric energy generation, modern electric drives and the design of products that make energy consumption more efficient, said Jaskolski, who was previously Eaton Corp.’s chief technology officer.
It also will help strengthen Wisconsin’s growing “clean tech” sector, which includes water, wind, solar, geothermal and biofuel technologies spread across many areas of the state, said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.
by jboullion | May 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
From details of the Energy Fair, sponsored by the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, in Custer, Wisconsin:
Friday, June 19 at 1 pm
Antonia Juhasz
Antonia Juhasz is an author and political activist. She was the author of The Bush Agenda: Invading the World One Economy at a Time in 2006, Alternatives to Economic Globalization for which she received the 2004 Project Censored award. In 2008, she published The Tyranny of Oil.
Saturday, June 20 at 1 pm
Alan Weisman
Alan Weisman spoke at the 10th Anniversary Energy Fair, and we’re happy to have him join us another ten years later to celebrate our progress and help us look forward to another 20 years.
Alan Weisman is an author and journalist whose reports from around the world have appeared in Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, Orion, Wilson Quarterly, Vanity Fair, Mother Jones, Discover, and more.
His most recent book, The World Without Us, (a staff favorite) is a bestseller, and was named the Best Nonfiction Book of 2007 by both Time Magazine and Entertainment Weekly.
Sunday, June 21 at 1 pm
Wendy Williams
Wendy Williams, an is the author of Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound. The Wall Street Journal called Cape Wind “a ripe subject, populated with the sort of people who would be among the first to count themselves as friends of the Earth but the last to accept an environmentally friendly energy source if it meant the slightest cloud on their ocean views.”
Williams has written for many major publications, including Scientific American, The Christian Science Monitor, The Boston Globe, The Providence Journal and The Baltimore Sun. She has been journalist-in-residence at Duke University and at the Hasting Center. The author of several books, she lives on Cape Cod.
by jboullion | May 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
From details of the Energy Fair, sponsored by the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, in Custer, Wisconsin:
Friday, June 19 at 1 pm
Antonia Juhasz
Antonia Juhasz is an author and political activist. She was the author of The Bush Agenda: Invading the World One Economy at a Time in 2006, Alternatives to Economic Globalization for which she received the 2004 Project Censored award. In 2008, she published The Tyranny of Oil.
Saturday, June 20 at 1 pm
Alan Weisman
Alan Weisman spoke at the 10th Anniversary Energy Fair, and we’re happy to have him join us another ten years later to celebrate our progress and help us look forward to another 20 years.
Alan Weisman is an author and journalist whose reports from around the world have appeared in Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, Orion, Wilson Quarterly, Vanity Fair, Mother Jones, Discover, and more.
His most recent book, The World Without Us, (a staff favorite) is a bestseller, and was named the Best Nonfiction Book of 2007 by both Time Magazine and Entertainment Weekly.
Sunday, June 21 at 1 pm
Wendy Williams
Wendy Williams, an is the author of Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound. The Wall Street Journal called Cape Wind “a ripe subject, populated with the sort of people who would be among the first to count themselves as friends of the Earth but the last to accept an environmentally friendly energy source if it meant the slightest cloud on their ocean views.”
Williams has written for many major publications, including Scientific American, The Christian Science Monitor, The Boston Globe, The Providence Journal and The Baltimore Sun. She has been journalist-in-residence at Duke University and at the Hasting Center. The author of several books, she lives on Cape Cod.
