by jboullion | Jun 1, 2010 | Uncategorized
Each year the MREA Energy Fair transforms rural Central Wisconsin into the global hot spot for renewable energy education. The Energy Fair brings over 20,000 people from nearly every state in the U.S. and several countries around the world to learn, connect with others and ready them for action at home. The Energy Fair is the nation’s longest running energy education event of its kind.
The Energy Fair features:
•Over 275 exhibitors – sustainable living and energy products
•Over 200 workshops – from introductory level to advanced hands-on education
•Clean Energy Car Show – demonstration vehicles and workshops
•Green Home Pavilion – focused on building and remodeling in a sustainable way
•Green Building Demso – see sustainable building techniques in action
•Sustainable Tables – workshops, chef demos, and a farmers’ market bringing sustainability to your dinner table
•Inspirational keynotes, lively entertainment, great food, and local beer.
The Energy Fair is held in Custer, WI just seven miles east of Stevens Point. Join us for the 21st Annual Energy Fair June 18-20, 2010. For more information about the Fair, contact the Midwest Renewable Energy Association at 715-592-6595.
by jboullion | May 27, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Wisconsin State Journal:
Congratulations to the Columbia County Board for recognizing last week that wind turbines complement farmland preservation.
The board agreed Wednesday that farmers in the towns of Randolph and Scott can lease small amounts of land to We Energies for wind turbines without violating their state agreements to keep their land in agricultural production.
The board’s decision is wise because the turbines will give each farmer thousands of dollars in extra income to keep their farm operations going. And the amount of land taken out of production for turbine foundations and access roads will be miniscule compared to the total size of cropland that will remain.
We Energies also has agreed to buy two homes from neighbors who were concerned about living within a quarter mile of some of the turbines.
That means this exciting wind project in northeast Columbia County can now move forward with 90 turbines scattered across some 17,000 acres of productive farmland.
We Energies started developing the site, called Glacier Hills Energy Park, last week. It’s located about 50 miles northeast of Madison.
The energy company hopes to fire up the wind park by the end of next year or early 2012. It will produce enough clean energy to power 45,000 homes.
Wisconsin’s wind industry is just taking off, and more clean energy is needed to reduce Wisconsin’s reliance on dirty coal and gas that’s imported from other states and foreign countries.
by jboullion | May 25, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Nathaniel Shuda in the Stevens Point Journal:
In his last batch of funding requests before his retirement, U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausau, is seeking almost $2 million in earmarks for Portage County.
Four of the 85 projects Obey submitted for consideration in the 2011 federal budget are specific to the county, with several focused on central Wisconsin and others on statewide projects.
Despite being a retiring congressman, the likelihood Obey’s projects will get funding remains relatively high, given his seniority in the House of Representatives and position as Appropriations Committee chairman, said Ed Miller, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
“It’s more difficult when you’re going out of office, but given that he’s the chairman of the committee, I think he’s going to handle it well,” Miller said.
Among the projects, which the Appropriations Committee and full House and Senate still must approve, are funds to help the UWSP Institute for Sustainable Technology, Project Learn Program, redevelopment in the city of Stevens Point and the continued reconstruction of Highway 10.
Among other projects in central Wisconsin is an expanded renewable energy center at Mid-State Technical College.
Mid-State’s board of directors recently approved a $2 million renewable energy center at its Wisconsin Rapids campus, but that could more than double if Congress approves another $4.5 million Obey requested for the project.
“It will allow us to basically complete the whole project,” said Al Javoroski, dean of Mid-State’s technical and industrial division, who still expressed some hesitation after Congress rejected a $20 million request in 2009.
“The big picture is we’re going to do what we need to (in order) to support our renewable energy initiative.”
by jboullion | May 24, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Wausau Daily Herald:
The group of citizens who are working to stop a proposed biomass plant near the Domtar paper mill in Rothschild have been working to cast doubt on virtually all of the claims made about the project — environmental claims, economic claims and so on.
Of their concerns, the questions around the plant’s environmental impact are the most serious, because the air emissions have the potential to do the most harm.
Domtar and We Energies have answered them in some detail, and we have no reason to doubt their analysis of the plant’s impact. Still, there’s no getting around the fact that those companies have an economic incentive to spin the facts in a way that is most beneficial to their project.
That’s why we all would benefit from an environmental impact statement on the project by the state and federal governments. It would provide a solid and independent expert analysis of the project.
The regulations governing these projects are arcane, but the essence of the argument is easy to understand: The state Public Service Commission, sometimes in conjunction with the Department of Natural Resources and federal agencies, has the capacity to prepare an independent assessment of the real environmental effects of the proposed project. This includes the impact of emissions, noise and other factors.
By statute, that analysis is automatically triggered for any power plant generating 100 megawatts or more. The proposed biomass plant will generate 50 megawatts, so an environmental impact statement is not required.
That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be completed. Fifty megawatts of electricity still is a major power plant. An environmental impact statement would add an important expert perspective to the local discussion about the plant. This is a big project, and a relatively new technology. It bears scrutiny.
by jboullion | May 21, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Jake Miller in the Marshfield News-Herald:
Four dollars a gallon was enough inspiration for Steven Uthmeier to ditch the car.
Several years later, and in the midst of national Bike-to-Work week, the 56-year-old still bikes to work almost daily, huffing it into Marshfield on an old Schwinn that’s made for a commute, not for looks.
Uthmeier cruises in from Hewitt, making a round trip of about 11 miles each day to and from home and his desk at Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital.
Inhumane gasoline prices sparked his interest, but how Uthmeier feels after a ride has kept him going. He’s refreshed and refocused.
“After I got into it, I felt better,” Uthmeier said. “Then I was actually doing it for the exercise also, and I found on the way home after I finished a day of work it was very decompressing and relaxing.”
Biking to work is by no means the primary mode of transportation and it isn’t without inherent risks. There’s the off-chance you’ll be hit by a car, or you may get a flat at the most inopportune time.
Marshfield has continued to develop its network of bike trails, which for people like Uthmeier, has made the ride nearly as safe as it’s going to get. He’s only riding in traffic for about a mile before he reaches the path along Veterans Parkway.
“You do have cars going 45 (mph),” Uthmeier said, “but as soon as you get to the boulevard it’s just beautiful.”
He typically bikes to work from April to October, unless a heavy rain or snow storm hits.
