by jboullion | Mar 28, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release posted on Yahoo! Finance:
WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Energy Composites Corporation (OTCBB:ENCC – News) announced today that it has become a member of the American Wind Energy Association, the trade association that promotes wind power growth through advocacy, communication and education. In addition to the company’s membership, Sam Fairchild, ECC’s Chief Executive Officer, will take an active role in helping AWEA push its renewable energy agenda forward.
Fairchild praised AWEA’s tenacity and strength as an advocate of renewable energy solutions, noting that “AWEA is the national voice for the U.S. wind industry, with a strong record of success and an excellent portfolio of information and analytic resources available to its members. Membership in AWEA strengthens our launch platform for the Company’s wind energy strategy, including blade manufacturing and MRO services. Over the next several weeks we will share with investors each of the concrete steps we are taking to make that strategy a reality.”
Fairchild added that “ECC’s commitment to the wind market is very strong — we see composites playing a larger and larger role in the successful transformation of wind power as the nation’s alternative energy solution. ECC’s advancements in design, materials, production techniques and product technologies will provide us with a significant competitive edge as we roll out our wind market penetration strategy. We are also focused on expanding our field services capability to become a major player in composites maintenance, repair and overhaul for the wind sector.”
Jamie Mancl, ECC’s founder and President, noted, “I am confident that we can bring as much value to AWEA as we expect membership in the organization will bring to us. We believe that greater use of advanced composites in the wind energy supply chain will drive substantially higher financial returns to wind farm developers and greater value to the nation as a whole.”
by jboullion | Mar 27, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Larry Bivins in the Wausau Daily Herald:
WASHINGTON — Wausau will receive nearly $200,000 for energy efficiency and conservation projects, President Barack Obama’s administration announced Thursday.
The money is part of more than $37 million the Department of Energy has allocated for Wisconsin under Obama’s economic recovery package. In addition to the $183,900 for Wausau, the department has designated $374,000 for Marathon County. . . .
Activities the money can support include energy audits and making residential and commercial buildings more energy efficient, improving building codes and inspections, and creating financial incentive programs for energy efficiency improvements. It also can go toward transportation programs that conserve energy, projects that reduce or capture greenhouse gas emissions from landfills, and making traffic signals and street lights more energy efficient.
by jboullion | Mar 24, 2009 | Uncategorized
From two presentations by Michael Vickerman at the 2009 Wisconsin Renewable Energy Summit:
Getting Serious About Solar Hot Water
Value Proposition to System Owner
+ Less expensive (on a life-cycle basis)
+ Predictable return
+ Negligible risk
Value Proposition to Society
+ Emission-free
+ Non-depleting
+ Indigenous
+ Highly secure
SHW Potential in Wisconsin
+ Can offset between 2.6% to 4.1% of NG use
+ Avoiding 150 million therms/year
+ Saving $150 million annually (2006 prices)
+ Offsetting 820,000 metric ton of CO2
Economic Development Impacts of Renewable Energy
Economies of scale are achieved by shrinking the labor contribution relative to output, which explains why utility-scale energy is less expensive than do-it-yourself energy.
Distributing renewable energy through customer-sited systems increases job-hours per energy unit produced as well as promoting entrepreneurship and small business development. . . .
From Small Systems – Big Results in Germany:
+ Utilities are required to accept power from customer-sited RE systems through fixed, long-term buyback rates
+ 15% of Germany’s electricity now generated from renewables
+ In 2007 $14 billion invested in RE
+ Germany has half the world’s PV capacity
+ Payoff: 300,000 people employed in the RE sector.
And in Wisconsin:
+ 338 Focus on Energy-funded RE systems installed
+ 40% increase over 2007
+ $3.5MM incentives obligated
+ Full-service installers — 35 PV; 24 biogas; 64 SHW; 21 wind; 15 biomass.
From another presentation at the Wisconsin Wind Energy Supply Chain Workshop:
Windpower in Wisconsin: Outlook for 2009 and Beyond
Why Promote Windpower?
Clean = Environmental
Non-depleting = Energy Security
Fixed Price = Risk Management
Creates Wealth = Economic Development
Scalable to Utilities = Practicality
The current Renewable Energy Standard (RES) will yield an additional ~4.2 billion kWh/yr of qualifying renewable electricity by 2015, assuming no load growth.
Assuming that windpower generates 90% of that quantity, about 1,600 MW of wind capacity must come on line between 2004 and 2015 to satisfy the RES.
by jboullion | Mar 23, 2009 | Uncategorized
From Turbines and Health published by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA):
The American Lung Association’s agenda for the new administration, Protect the Air We Breathe: An Agenda for Clean Air, states: “Climate, energy and clean air are inexorably linked. Solutions that lead to cleaner air must be included in any approach to cleaner, more efficient energy use and reductions in global warming.”
Wind energy is one such solution – a clean energy source that can provide
communities with decreased greenhouse gas emissions, along with air quality improvements and corresponding human health benefits. . . .
+ The wind industry takes health concerns seriously . . .
+ Wind energy can help improve air quality . . .
+ Wind energy can help reduce global warming pollutants . . .
+ Wind plants are very quiet compared to other types of industrial facilities, such as manufacturing plants. But wind plants typically are located in rural or low-density residential areas, where turbine noise may be more obvious because background noise is lower than in urban areas. On the other hand, the turbine noise may often be masked by the noise of the wind itself – especially since turbines are located where the wind speed is higher than average and because they operate only when the wind is blowing.
+ The sounds emitted from wind turbines can be mechanical, from internal equipment such as the gearbox or yaw drive, or aerodynamic, from air moving past the rotor blades. Current turbine designs effectively reduce mechanical sound through sound proofing; therefore, the aerodynamic sound, often described as a “whooshing” sound, is what can normally be heard.
+ There is no reliable evidence that low-frequency sound from wind turbines is a problem . . .
+ Shadow flicker occurrence is easily calculated . . .
+ Shadow flicker is not harmful to persons with epilepsy. The allegation is sometimes made that shadow flicker from wind turbines can cause epileptic seizures. This is not true—shadow flicker from wind turbines occurs much more slowly than the light “strobing” associated with seizures. The strobe rates necessary to cause seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy are 3 to 5 flashes per second and large wind turbine blades cannot rotate this quickly.
by jboullion | Mar 20, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by Focus on Energy:
MADISON, Wis. (March 17, 2009) – Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s energy efficiency and renewable energy initiative, announced new staffing grants today to help businesses, manufacturers, farms, schools and government facilities throughout the state complete energy efficiency projects.
“Businesses don’t need to let staffing issues become a barrier to energy savings,” said Ken Williams, Focus on Energy’s Business Programs director. “Focus on Energy is committed to helping companies overcome barriers that prevent them from completing energy efficiency projects.”
The grants will fund up to $80,000 for a full- or part-time employee or consultant to work on-site and manage energy efficiency projects that otherwise would not be completed due to a lack of human resources. Grant funding will go toward the salary and benefits of a project manager who will oversee and engineer energy savings projects.
The grant is designed to help businesses hire new staff or retain existing employees who might otherwise be at risk of lay-off. Partnering or neighboring companies are encouraged to submit a joint application and share an employee or consultant between businesses.
“Focus offered a similar program last year that was very popular and produced even more energy savings projects than expected,” Williams explained. “We are pleased to offer an expanded version of the program for 2009.”
Interested businesses should visit focusonenergy.com/competitive_incentives for more information. Applications must include a list of potential projects, as funding is based on the energy savings from those projects and is paid when projects are completed. Applications must be received by April 30, 2009. In addition, completed energy efficiency projects are also eligible for Focus on Energy financial incentives that can be found at focusonenergy.com/incentives/business.
