by jboullion | Sep 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Nick Halter in the Wausau Daily Herald:
A biomass power plant in Rothschild will give a much-needed shot in the arm to a Wisconsin pulpwood industry that has suffered a 20 percent reduction in demand for wood over recent years.
The plant, proposed for the grounds of the Domtar paper mill, would create more than 100 logging jobs and 20 to 30 power plant jobs, according to studies of a proposed biomass plant in Ashland, said Terry Mace, forest product specialist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The average salary for both loggers and power plant employees is about $32,000, Mace said. Although the plant’s construction still must be approved by the state Public Service Commission, forestry industry workers already are anticipating fresh demand for their products.
Based on the amount of wood sold to the plant and the jobs it would create, $22.7 million would be injected to the local economy each year if the plant were completed on time in 2013, said Roger Nacker, a natural resource economist for the Wisconsin Economic Development Institute.
The closures of three Wisconsin paper mills in the past few years –including the Wausau paper pulp mill in Brokaw and the Domtar mill in Port Edwards — have reduced the state’s demand for pulpwood from around 3.2 million cords per year in the mid-2000s to 2.5 million in 2007 and 2008, Mace said.
The closures, combined with the downturn in home construction, have been hurting many local loggers.
by jboullion | Sep 4, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a blog post by Tom Content on JSonline:
Clean-energy policies such as the federal energy and climate bill and a state climate bill are needed to help open doors for clean-tech entrepreneurs and prod other companies to invest in cleaner energy technologies, Gov. Jim Doyle said Wednesday.
Speaking at an energy forum in Saginaw, Mich. led by the Obama administration, Doyle referred to the biomass power plant announced Tuesday by We Energies as a project that wouldn’t have happened without the state law that requires utilities to buy more green power.
“They’re doing this because they’ve got a renewable power standard that they have to meet in a couple of years and they are really trying to figure out how they are going to do it. So good public policy matters,” Doyle said.
Under Doyle, and with bipartisan support, the state enacted a law several years ago requiring that 10% of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2015.
Doyle is now pushing for the state to expand that requirement – to 25% of the state’s energy supply by 2025 – as part of a global warming bill that his office and co-chairs of several legislative committees have been working on. The bill is based on the recommendations of the governor’s global warming task force last year.
That bill is likely to be introduced next month, said Pat Henderson, deputy secretary of the state Department of Natural Resources, in an interview.
During a telephone call with Wisconsin reporters, Doyle said he was optimistic the bill would pass either late this year or early next year. The state bill is still needed, he said, even if a federal bill that would enact a nationwide cap-and-trade system is passed.
by jboullion | Sep 4, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Judy Newman in the Wisconsin State Journal:
Art and Mindy Shrader have a new conversation piece in the back yard of their log home near Reedsburg: a wind energy turbine, designed to help power their house.
“We live up on a ridge and the wind is always blowing there,” Shrader said. “We thought it would be nice to do something about that.”
Gene Frakes has had a wind turbine on his property in the town of Perry, in the southwestern corner of Dane County, for two and a half years. The 10-kilowatt turbine produces an average of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity — or about $110 worth — a month, enough to power his home and send some extra electricity out to the grid for his utility company to use. “There’s five months a year when they owe us money,” said Frakes, who also installs wind power equipment.
In the past several months, interest in individual wind turbines has revved up in Wisconsin and beyond. Residents are signing up to buy them, and companies are springing up to sell and install them. Part of the popularity stems from new federal tax credits.
Nationwide, the number of small wind generators installed for home or commercial use grew 78 percent in 2008 over the previous year, and residential sales in early 2009 were 15 to 20 percent higher than a year ago, according to a study by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), in Washington, D.C.
In Wisconsin, about 65 small wind turbines have been installed over the past six years with commitments for 25 or 30 more, according to Focus on Energy, a public-private partnership, funded by utility ratepayers, that facilitates renewable energy and energy efficiency.
by jboullion | Sep 4, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release posted on PRWeb:
Appleton, WI (PRWEB) September 4, 2009 — River Crest Elementary School in Hudson, Wisconsin, recently received the designation of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), the nation’s foremost authority on green buildings. Hoffman LLC, www.hoffman.net, an Appleton, Wisconsin-based planning, architectural, and construction management firm, designed and built the highly-sustainable and eco-friendly school.
River Crest Elementary became the first elementary school in Wisconsin, and the second public elementary school in the nation, to receive Gold under the USGBC’s new LEED for Schools Rating System. In addition, it is the second of only two public school buildings in the state to receive LEED Gold designation–the first being Hoffman’s Northland Pines High School project in Eagle River, Wisconsin, in 2006.
“River Crest’s LEED Gold certification validates and confirms that sustainable design and construction can be done at or below conventional costs,” stated Mark Hanson, Hoffman’s Director of Sustainable Services.
Completed in August of 2008, River Crest was designed and built for $166/square foot, which includes design, site work, construction, furnishings, fixtures, and equipment. Total project cost is $57/square foot less than, or 29% below, the average cost for public elementary schools built in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in 2008 as stated in the “2009 Construction Report” by School Planning & Management.
by jboullion | Sep 4, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article in the Business Journal of Milwaukee:
Cardinal Glass Industries will receive a $500,000 loan to help finance an upgrade to the company’s photovoltaic glass production facility in Portage.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle announced the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act loan Tuesday at the opening of the Cardinal Solar Technologies facility in Mazomanie, a 180,000-square-foot plant that will grind, drill and temper two types of glass for use in photovoltaic solar panels. Another 80,000-square-foot section is planned as part of a second phase of construction.
At full capacity, the Mazomanie plant will produce 64 million square feet of tempered glass annually, Doyle said. The plant employs 54 workers but once it reaches full production, the plant has the potential to add an additional 60 to 70 employees.
by jboullion | Sep 3, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a post on Greener Milwaukee:
Participants in this two hour seminar will learn about: how photovoltaic (PV) systems create electricity from the sun; what components make up a PV system; how to determine what size system will meet your needs; where to locate a system on your home or property; what PV systems cost and the financial incentives that are available. This program includes handouts, demonstrations, and a question and answer period. We Energies and Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) have partnered to offer this seminar and it is only available to WE Energies Customers. Cost: $15/person or $5/We Energies’ Energy for Tomorrow customers.
Time: September 12, 2009 from 10am to 12pm
Location: Outpost Natural Foods – Bayview
Street: 2826 S. Kinnickinnic Ave
City/Town: Milwaukee
Register here.
