by jboullion | Sep 1, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by We Energies:
ROTHSCHILD, Wis. – We Energies announced today the proposed construction of a $250 million biomass-fueled power plant at Domtar Corporation’s Rothschild, Wisconsin paper mill site. Wood, waste wood and sawdust will be used to produce 50 megawatts of electricity and will also support Domtar’s sustainable papermaking operations. The project would be funded by We Energies.
The partnership between We Energies and Domtar will result in a highly efficient use of resources and will add another technology to We Energies’ renewable energy portfolio.
That portfolio includes the state’s largest wind development — the 145 megawatt Blue Sky Green Field Wind Energy Center in Fond du Lac County and the proposed 162 megawatt Glacier Hills Wind Park in Columbia County. Together, these three projects will be capable of delivering nearly 360 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to supply approximately 120,000 homes. . . .
Under Wisconsin law, utilities statewide must use renewable energy to meet 10 percent of the electricity needs of retail customers by the year 2015.
The project is expected to create approximately 400 construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs in the surrounding community, including independent wood suppliers and haulers from northern and central Wisconsin who will secure waste wood for the project.
by jboullion | Aug 31, 2009 | Uncategorized
From Sustainable Eau Claire’s EcoTeam page:
EcoTeams are designed to help people make voluntary changes in the way they interact with the environment. If you’re like many people, you have a vague idea of what you should be doing to reduce your environmental footprint, but you don’t know where to begin. The EcoTeam resources will assist you in translating your desire to do the right thing into a program of environmental action that will make a difference.
by jboullion | Aug 31, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Charles Brace in the Wisconsin State Journal:
TOWN OF BYRON — Retired mail carrier Gerry Meyer said he only sleeps two hours a night because of the constant swooshing sound and that his wife has started taking sleep medication.
His neighbor Nick Gonnering in South Byron, who lives just as close to the noise, said he finds the sound “relaxing.”
Either way, the sound of wind turbines is making more ears perk up as a bill moves forward in the Legislature that would empower the Public Service Commission to create statewide rules governing wind power and pre-empt local government control over their placement.
The rules would govern the distance between turbines and homes along with their noise and the flicker effects of shadows from their turbine blades. . . .
Connie Reich of the town of Byron in Fond du Lac County said she felt like she had no say in the wind project near her home. But, she said developer Invenergy does give $500 every December to her and other people in the community and that residents with turbines on their land get paid significantly more.
“If I had a choice, I’d rather have a turbine than a subdivision,” Reich said.
Byron resident Gerry Meyer said the noise has led to sleep loss and, as a result, high blood pressure.
“This wind factory has completely taken away our quality of life. We can rarely go outside without being stressed by the various sounds,” Meyer said in an e-mail.
Timothy Allen, professor of botany and environmental studies at UW-Madison and an expert on renewable energy, said any health effects are likely self-induced and psychological.
“I think it’s people who don’t want their skyline messed up,” Allen said.
by jboullion | Aug 31, 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 | Aug 31, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Charles Brace in the Wisconsin State Journal:
TOWN OF BYRON — Retired mail carrier Gerry Meyer said he only sleeps two hours a night because of the constant swooshing sound and that his wife has started taking sleep medication.
His neighbor Nick Gonnering in South Byron, who lives just as close to the noise, said he finds the sound “relaxing.”
Either way, the sound of wind turbines is making more ears perk up as a bill moves forward in the Legislature that would empower the Public Service Commission to create statewide rules governing wind power and pre-empt local government control over their placement.
The rules would govern the distance between turbines and homes along with their noise and the flicker effects of shadows from their turbine blades. . . .
Connie Reich of the town of Byron in Fond du Lac County said she felt like she had no say in the wind project near her home. But, she said developer Invenergy does give $500 every December to her and other people in the community and that residents with turbines on their land get paid significantly more.
“If I had a choice, I’d rather have a turbine than a subdivision,” Reich said.
Byron resident Gerry Meyer said the noise has led to sleep loss and, as a result, high blood pressure.
“This wind factory has completely taken away our quality of life. We can rarely go outside without being stressed by the various sounds,” Meyer said in an e-mail.
Timothy Allen, professor of botany and environmental studies at UW-Madison and an expert on renewable energy, said any health effects are likely self-induced and psychological.
“I think it’s people who don’t want their skyline messed up,” Allen said.
by jboullion | Aug 28, 2009 | Uncategorized
The energy track presentations have been release for the Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing Pavilion at the Wisconisn Machine Tool Show, October 6-8, at State Fair Park:
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2009
9:00am Green and Lean
Presented by Dr. Joe Jacobsen of MATC
11:00am Controlling Your Energy Costs – An Overview Of Focus On Energy
Presented by Nate Altfeather of Focus on Energy
1:00pm Opportunities To Supply The US Wind Industry
Presented by Jeffrey Anthony of American Wind Energy Association
3:00pm Energy Efficiency In Manufacturing Facilities
Presented by Orion Energy Systems
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2009
10:00am A Case Study On Energy Efficiency
Presented by Nate Altfeather of Focus On Energy
11:30am Starve The Beast! Revolutionary Ideas On How To Save Money Operating Your Ventilation Systems
Presented by DuWayne Bohrer of iVEC™ Systems and Kevin Rohde of Hastings Air Energy Control Inc
1:00pm New Manufacturing Opportunities In Stimulus Funding
Presented by Maria Redmond of Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence
3:00pm Opportunities For Cooperation In The Renewable Supply Chain
Presented by Mark Tomkins of GermanAmerican Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2009
10:00am Sociable Responsibility In Industry
Presented by American Society for Quality
12:00pm Save Energy, Save Money
Presented by Alex Dodd of Focus on Energy
Energy track seminars sponsored by Focus on Energy.
