by jboullion | Sep 23, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an announcement issued by the Midwest Renewable Energy Association:
Help raise funds to support the education programs at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association. The MREA is one of only a handful of institutions in the nation providing hands-on training for professionals and workshops for home and business owners. We help train the workforce that is installing wind and solar throughout the Midwest, and we provide the information for individuals to make renewables a part of their home or business.
Ride for Renewables
Ride 10-, 30- or 60-mile routes in the beautiful rolling hills of central Wisconsin. Hosted rest stations greet you throughout the course. Bike support will be available on site. Helmets required. Ride for Renewables registration begins at 11:00 a.m. at the Renew the Earth Institute. Ride at your own pace, and enjoy Harvest Fest when you return. Awards and prizes will be given away at 5 p.m., so stick around for dinner. With paid registration, you receive a free t-shirt, food, 2 beverage tickets, and all Harvest Fest activities and workshops.
Cost for Ride & Harvest Fest:
$30 per person
$10 for 13-18 year olds
Free under 13
Back 40 Disc Golf
Join us as we debut our new disc golf course and our first annual Back 40 Disc Golf Tournament. This fun event will be held on the grounds of the MREA�s Back 40 campground, approximately one mile from the ReNew the Earth Institute. Comprised of a nine-hole course intertwined with towering pines and open fields, the Back 40 disc golf experience promises to be fun and challenging, as well as a beautiful autumn scene! Disc Golf registration begins at noon at the Renew the Earth Institute. With paid registration, you receive food, 2 beverage tickets, and all Harvest Fest activities and workshops.
Cost for Disc Golf & Harvest Fest:
$20 per person
$10 for 13-18 year olds
Free under 13
Harvest Fest
MREA’s annual Harvest Fest will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 26 featuring kids’ activities such as cider pressing and pumpkin carving. Also attend small harvest-related workshops such as Preparing your Food for Winter, Improve Your Home Performance over Winter, and more. Take guided tours of the MREA grounds and learn about renewable energy and permaculture. At 5 p.m. enjoy a chili dinner featuring local and organic food, and beverages from Central Waters Brewing Company. With paid registration, you receive food, 2 beverage tickets, all activities and workshops.
Cost for Harvest Fest Only:
$10 per person
$5 for 13-18 year olds
Free under 13
by jboullion | Sep 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by in the D.J. Slater:
It has been in John Kregenow’s nature for years to do his part to help the environment, and it goes beyond putting plastic in the recycling bin.
Kregenow, 57, of the town of Cassel, west and south of Marathon, reuses his old clothing as wash rags, maintains a compost pile, collects rainwater to use on his garden and grows vegetables for himself and food pantries.
So when he saw his roof was covered with cracking asphalt shingles nearly two years ago, he decided to invest in a solar roof.
Kregenow turned to Kulp’s of Stratford, a roofing company, to install the solar roof, which actively started absorbing energy on Aug. 19.
Since that time, Kregenow has been able to generate $150 in energy. Kregenow typically spends $120 on his monthly energy bill.
“(My wife and I) are eager to see our September bill,” he said.
Since mid-May, Kulp’s has offered residents and businesses the chance to upgrade their properties with solar roofing, said Bob Kulp, co-owner of Kulp’s. The systems allow property owners to generate electrical power from the sun, which can be used and sold to utility companies.
So far, Kulp’s has installed the solar roof at Kregenow’s home, has an order to install one on a home in Marshfield and has three other homeowners who are committed to buying the technology.
by jboullion | Sep 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article in the Wausau Daily Herald:
When you hear the words solar energy, what comes to mind? Most people think of electricity. But the most mature and affordable solar technology is solar water heating.
People have been building and using solar water heaters since the 1800s. In fact, the very first mass-produced, commercially available water heaters were powered by the sun. The design and reliability of solar water heating equipment has improved over the years. A modern thermal collector can easily achieve 90 percent or more efficiency. And solar hot water systems can often operate for decades without needing repairs.
How it works
Because of our severe winters, solar water heaters designed for year-round use in Wisconsin must circulate an anti-freeze solution through the collectors. This heated fluid is pumped through a heat exchanger, where the solar heat is transferred to the domestic hot water. The heated water is typically stored in a tank that feeds into the existing hot water tank.
In sunny weather, the solar storage tank can often reach 150 degrees. Supplying the heater with water this hot keeps it from coming on. This saves a great deal of energy. But even if the storage tank reaches only 80 degrees to 90 degrees, the solar water heating system has raised the temperature of the water more than half way to the typical use temperature of 120 degrees and has saved more than half the energy.
For safety, the plumbing code requires an anti-scald valve to keep the domestic hot water from becoming dangerously hot. . . .
Focus on Energy provides reward checks to help Wisconsin residents with the cost of installing solar water heating equipment. Each reward is based on projected energy savings. A family of four installing a solar water heater typically receives a reward of $2,500. The federal government provides an unlimited 30 percent tax credit to help make renewable energy equipment more affordable.
by jboullion | Sep 18, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article submitted by Focus on Energy and published in the Wausau Daily Herald:
Small systems an attainable way to generate renewable energy
For more than 1,000 years, we have been harnessing the power of wind to sail boats, pump water and grind grain. As time passed, new uses for wind power evolved and today it is used to generate clean renewable power for homes, businesses, farms and schools.
And demand for this clean power is growing as Focus on Energy co-funded small wind turbine installations are expected to more than double in 2009 compared with 2008.
Wind turbines have become an important technology in the search for a renewable way to generate electricity. And as this technology improves, a growing number of Wisconsin residents and businesses are investing their time and resources into this industry. In many of these cases, small wind turbines make the most sense.
A small wind turbine has a rated capacity of 100 kilowatts, or kW, or less. These systems work when wind passing over the turbine creates a rotary motion that turns an electric generator and creates electricity.
The electricity output of a wind turbine depends on its size and the wind’s speed through the rotor. As wind speed increases, the energy produced increases exponentially. For example, a 10 percent increase in average annual wind speed from 10 mph to 11 mph can result in a 33 percent increase in total electricity production.
“A 10 kW wind turbine can generate about 10,000 to 16,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, a bit more than the amount of electricity a typical household uses,” said Rich Hasselman, small wind technical lead for Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s statewide resource for energy efficiency and renewable energy.
by jboullion | Sep 17, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Nathaniel Shuda in the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune:
More than a year after it was shut down, the Domtar paper mill in Port Edwards continues to attract attention from those who want to use the site.
After issuing a reuse strategy in April that details proposed plans for the facility should the Canadian-based papermaker decide to sell it, village officials and local economic development leaders began receiving more inquiries about the property.
“Within the last couple of months, there have been about five (inquiries),” said Melissa Loken, economic development director for the Heart of Wisconsin Business Alliance. “Domtar is drawing more attention than a normal site.”
Several of the roughly 30 parties that expressed interest since the mill shut down in June 2007 produce biofuels or other renewable energy products, such as solar panels, Loken said. Although those companies want their identities to remain confidential, several others were made public this week for the first time when south Wood County municipal officials submitted a federal stimulus grant application for a proposed Highway 54 bypass and bridge.
Onalaska-based Mathy Construction Co. has expressed interest in using part of the site for the storage of its petroleum products and possibly biofuels, Port Edwards Village Administrator Joe Terry said.
“The other thing that interested them is the concept of purchasing lower-grade waste heat from any of the neighboring facilities,” Terry said.
Innovolis, a local alternative energy producer that, according to its Web site, uses tidal and river currents to generate power, also has expressed interest in using the site, as have University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point researchers, who are investigating the possible development of an $8 million experimental biorefinery.
