by jboullion | May 2, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Regan Carstensen in the Red Wing Republican Eagle:
Goodhue County’s wind power ordinance should not be applied to a project proposed by Goodhue Wind, a judge said Friday in her recommendation to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
Administrative Law Judge Kathleen Sheehy said that she found good cause not to apply many provisions of the county ordinance, passed last October, to Goodhue Wind’s 78 megawatt, 52-turbine project.
“It was really a comprehensive review, and she was very professional and even-handed in the way she developed it,” said Joe Jennings, director of communications for Goodhue Wind.
The review detailed 179 findings, in which Sheehy addressed many things people who were opposed to the project had been concerned about.
Some concerns involved noise from the turbines, as well as the possibilities of stray voltage, ice throws and shadow flicker.
Sheehy found that all of the wind turbine sites proposed by Goodhue Wind would be located far enough from dwellings to meet the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency noise standards. Another finding showed that there is no evidence that any wind farm operation has ever caused stray voltage problems.
by jboullion | Apr 29, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article in the Chicago Tribune:
MADISON, Wis.— A poll of Wisconsin residents finds strong support for increasing the use of wind energy, even if doing so would raise electricity bills several dollars per month.
The Wisconsin Public Radio poll was released Friday. It shows that 77 percent of respondents want to see the state invest more in wind energy. Reasons included decreasing the nation’s reliance on foreign oil and helping the environment.
A majority, 69 percent, wouldn’t mind eight to 10 wind-energy machines being placed closed to where they live, and 79 percent favor placing the machines offshore in Lake Michigan.
Click here for poll results.
by jboullion | Apr 29, 2011 | Uncategorized
From a commentary on BizTimes.com by Tom Rave, Executive director, The Gateway To Milwaukee:
Dear Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee Members:
An aerotropolis is a newer urban development that typically attracts industries that are located around the airport and along transportation corridors, such as:
Time-sensitive manufacturing, e-commerce fulfillment, telecommunications and logistics.
Hotels, retail outlets, entertainment complexes and exhibition centers.
Offices for business people who travel frequently: by air or engage in global commerce.
An aerotropolis provides efficient accessibilities for people, and has an integrated infrastructure plan.
In Milwaukee’s case, an aerotropolis will prov1ide an efficient multimodal- air, boats, trains and motor vehicles – transportation hub centered around General Mitchell International Airport and The Port of Milwaukee that will efficiently serve southeastern Wisconsin plus extended territories in northern Illinois, central and eastern Wisconsin.
Earlier this week, a number of people involved with Milwaukee Gateway Aerotropolis Corporation, which is led by The Gateway To Milwaukee, attended the Airport Cities World Conference in Memphis, Tenn. Over 630 people from 40 countries across six continents attended this conference. It was easy to see that this is all about economic competition among metropolises and ultimately about having good jobs for an area to be economically successful.
Virtually every presentation of aerotropolis efforts around the world and in the U.S. included the important necessity of having a mass transit system to efficiently move people for a variety of reasons and especially for work. Without such a system, an aerotropolis would be much less effective and more challenged to attract businesses to locate there. It is the way people will live in the future as urban areas continue to grow.
by jboullion | Apr 29, 2011 | Uncategorized
Sustainable Dunn announces the West Wisconsin Sustainability Fair, Sat. July 16, 8 AM – 2 PM at the Dunn County Fairgrounds, 620 17th St., in Menomonie. Coinciding with the Farmers Market, the Fair will host exhibitors from business, government, and non-profit groups, and will offer speakers, workshops, music, energy efficient vehicles, a photo contest, and a tour of the Cedar Falls Dam. Come and shop at the Farmers Market, talk with friends and neighbors, and learn more about sustainability in Western Wisconsin. For more information see the Sustainable Dunn website (sustainabledunn.org) or contact Margy Hagaman.
by jboullion | Apr 28, 2011 | Uncategorized
From a story by John Funk on Cleveland.com:
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Greater Cleveland took a giant step into what it hopes will be its manufacturing future this morning as longshoremen at the Port of Cleveland began unloading a European-made wind turbine.
Working hand-in-hand with the Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force, Lincoln Electric ordered the 2.5 megawatt (2½ million watts) from Kenersys, of Munster, Germany, last October. It arrived here through the St. Lawrence Seaway.
The energy task force has worked for six years to attract a turbine maker to Northeast Ohio to manufacture the giant machines for Ohio wind projects as well as others across the Great Lakes.
Kenersys is considering building a manufacturing facility in Northeast Ohio. The task force hopes to put even larger turbines in Lake Erie.
Lincoln manufactures precise, robotic welding equipment needed to weld turbine tower sections together.
The company plans to have the Kenersys turbine installed at its Euclid headquarters by late May. It will be the largest turbine in Ohio.
by jboullion | Apr 28, 2011 | Uncategorized
From a story by Martha Boehm on WEAU-TV, Eau Claire:
LA CROSSE, WI (WEAU)–Some students at UW-La Crosse want the state-run heating plant, that’s been on campus for decades, to stop burning coal. The No Coal Coalition wants the state to consider other fuel options.
“It may take a while, but what we really want is a definitive statement from them for a day and a year that they will be able to transfer our campuses off of coal,” said UW-La Crosse senior Jennifer Dausey.
Dausey has been working with the No Coal Coalition and Environmental Council for about a year. About a dozen students and faculty members want the Wisconsin Department of Administration, which owns the heating plant at UW-L, to stop burning coal to heat campus buildings.
“We always say that we should have been off coal yesterday,” Dausey said. “There’s no reason we need to keep burning this dirty energy. It’s not only destroying families in the mining process, but it’s also destroying our health and our lungs. It causes so much asthma it’s ridiculous.”
Dausey says the coalition not only wants the plant to stop using coal, but to cut back on its natural gas emission, which is the second way it produces energy.
“It’d be easiest to switch to burning biomass, which is like wood pellets and it’s going to become a bigger economy here in Wisconsin with our natural resources,” Dausey said.
