by jboullion | Sep 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Kevin Murphy in the Wausau Daily Herald:
MADISON — The Citizens Utility Board wants the Wisconsin Public Service Commission to take a harder look at the environmental impact a power plant planned for Rothschild might have.
CUB asked the PSC last week to reconsider its preliminary decision not to conduct an environmental impact statement for the 50 megawatt, biomass-fueled generating plant We Energies wants to build on the south side of the Domtar paper mill.
PSC staff has conducted a preliminary environmental assessment, or EA, of the project that found it would pose no significant threat to the quality of the human environment. CUB said, however, that that conclusion is contrary to PSC staff’s own preliminary determination that the plant will have significant impacts unless mitigation measures are implemented.
by jboullion | Sep 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by Energy Composites Corporation:
WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. September 17, 2010 — Energy Composites Corporation (“ECC”)
(NASDAQ OTC:ENCC) a leading provider of composites-based solutions to the clean-tech sector, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with SSP Technology A/S of Kirkeby, Denmark (“SSP”), with the purpose of entering into a strategic partnership and to establish a joint venture. This strategic alliance will support both companies’ efforts to supply competitive blades to wind turbine generators for North American customers.
With its base in Wisconsin Rapids, the joint venture will be well-situated in the midst of the upcoming Great Lakes/Midwest wind turbine market. In the coming years this region will set new demands and lead the market for turbine performance, blade size and manufacturing technologies.
SSP will offer customers the complete aerodynamic and structural design for blades and moulds, production of prototype blades, and ramp-up of blade production based on the partnership with ECC. ECC will manufacture blades for all customers based either on the customer’s own design or a blade design developed via the partnership with SSP. The joint venture will manufacture moulds and prefabricated root segments for both companies and their customers.
by jboullion | Sep 17, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an announcement issued by the Energy Center of Wisconsin:
Free live webinar
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
1:00pm – 2:00pm CDT
Presented by Peter Taglia, Staff Scientist, Clean Wisconsin
The Midwest contains the world’s largest concentration of productive agriculture and food processing, and produces enormous amounts of animal and food waste. The Midwest is also rich in woody biomass and other forestry resources that can be sustainably harvested.
However, only a tiny portion of these wastes is converted to biogas, a renewable substitute for natural gas that reduces fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas pollution. For agricultural waste alone, the Midwest’s 55 anaerobic digesters pale in comparison to Germany’s, which exceed 4,000 despite its significantly smaller agricultural output.
This webinar explores the potential for this renewable energy resource to grow by examining biogas sources, conversion technologies, and outputs together with energy policies needed to support them. With appropriate policy and deployment, biogas can become a substantial source of energy in the Midwest.
by jboullion | Sep 17, 2010 | Uncategorized
See more video here.
From a news release about the ribbon cutting issued by MATC:
MILWAUKEE (Sept. 15, 2010) – Milwaukee Area Technical College hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its 32-acre, 540 kW Photovoltaic Educational Laboratory on Wednesday, Sept. 15. The PV Lab is located at 810 E. Capitol Dr., Milwaukee.
MATC and Johnson Controls, the global leader in delivering products, services and solutions that increase energy efficiency in buildings, collaborated on the project, the largest operating photovoltaic facility in Wisconsin and is believed to be the first entirely portable photovoltaic facility in the United States. The project was unanimously approved by the Wisconsin Technical College System State Board on Sept. 30, 2009, and ground was broken on May 5, 2010.
“The Photovoltaic Educational Laboratory showcases several outstanding attributes of MATC: innovation and creativity at work; partnering with local businesses to provide new educational opportunities; advancing the world of technology to heights we have not seen before; and becoming a leader for other educational institutions and businesses to follow,” said MATC President Dr. Michael L. Burke. “This physical location has changed dramatically in just over four months. It started as a non-descript, unwanted, unmarketable tract of land that had stumped experts for decades on what exactly to do with it. Now, it represents what can really be called a new American dream.”
. . . The site features:
• 2,590 PV panels;
• two training centers for technicians, designers, site assessors, electricians, sales personnel and other professionals in renewable energy fields;
• over-parking and over-road array placement;
• data collection capabilities; and
• the first public television transmitter in the country that will approximate energy grid neutrality.
by jboullion | Sep 17, 2010 | Uncategorized
North Wind Renewable Energy installed this flush-mounted solar electric system on a home near Wisconsin Rapids.
by jboullion | Sep 17, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a blog post by Tom Content of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The Sierra Club on Thursday [September 9, 2010] filed suit in federal court claiming that two major coal-fired power plants operated by Wisconsin Power & Light Co. were upgraded over the years without installing modern pollution controls required by the Clean Air Act.
The suit charges the Madison utility made modifications to its Nelson Dewey power plant in Cassville in southwestern Wisconsin and its Columbia power plant near Portage without adding pollution controls. WP&L is a subsidiary of Alliant Energy Corp., Madison.
The suit is the latest in a series of Sierra Club suits targeting pollution from coal-fired power plants across Wisconsin.
Another suit by the environmental group and Clean Wisconsin has targeted air pollution from the We Energies Valley power plant in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley. Sierra Club has also filed suit over pollution by coal plants operated by Dairyland Power Cooperative of La Crosse and Wisconsin Public Service Corp. of Green Bay.
“The pattern here is that our aging fleet of coal plants can’t even meet current standards, so it sets us up for making a choice about whether we should be throwing good money after bad” to retrofit coal plants to meet emerging, stricter standards, said Jennifer Feyerherm of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign.
WP&L has proposed adding pollution controls at the Columbia power plant, in an investment projected to cost $627 million. The state Public Service Commission has yet to rule on that proposal, and the Sierra Club is challenging that the controls proposed don’t go far enough to reduce air emissions from Columbia.
“We’re disappointed that the Sierra Club has opted for this approach,” utility spokesman Scott Reigstad said of Sierra Club’s suit. “We disagree with the claims the Sierra Club is making in its complaint. We intend to vigorously defend against the action.”
The court actions come as the state Public Service Commission is studying whether to shut down aging coal-fired power plants in Wisconsin because of the state’s power glut, and as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is commencing regulation of coal plants to curb emissions of carbon dioxide as well as a series of other pollutants.
