by jboullion | Sep 14, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by KJ Lang in the La Crosse Tribune:
Technical colleges in Wisconsin and nationwide are adapting to train workers for “green jobs” as the commitment to a sustainable future ramps up in the U.S.
Students are learning how to install solar panels and wind turbines, produce biofuels and do other work in renewable energy fields.
“We are really an important link to making sure the workforce matches this developing area and our country’s transformation to alternative energy,” said Dan Clancy, president and state director of the Wisconsin Technical College System.
While some schools within the Wisconsin Technical College System have developed new programs to respond to the trend, most simply folded renewable energy and sustainability concepts into existing classes, said Clancy.
The colleges also have been careful to tailor green programs to communities in which an economic opportunity already exists.
Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wis., started a wind energy technology program and built a small commercial wind turbine to take advantage of its prime wind energy location along Lake Michigan.
Western Technical College has no new renewable energy or sustainability programs, but several programs are growing greener, said Bill Brendel, dean of agriculture apprenticeship and technology at Western.
Student electricians now learn about solar energy, while the heating and air conditioning programs include information about geothermal energy. Automotive students can get lessons on biofuel or hybrid electric vehicles.
Western also is considering creating a certificate in renewable energy in conjunction with Madison Area Technical College, said Brendel.
Brendel compares the current shift to renewable energy and green alternatives to the 1970s growth in computer-related jobs.
by jboullion | Sep 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
From the testimony of Michael Vickerman in support of the installation of a biomass gasification system that would produce biomass-derived synthetic gas (“syngas”) for serving Northern States Power’s Bay Front Unit #5.
We note the following public policy objectives that would be advanced if the proposal submitted by Northern States Power Corporation (“NSPW”) were approved. These objectives include:
1) Meeting Wisconsin’s current Renewable Energy Standard;
2) Eliminating a source of coal-fired power from its system;
3) Using a locally available renewable energy resource;
4) Reducing carbon dioxide emissions and other gaseous pollutants;
5) Maintaining a strong generation source in northern Wisconsin; and
6) Investing Wisconsin capital in a renewable energy generating facility power plant within its borders.
by jboullion | Sep 9, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Nathaniel Shuda in the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune:
With renewable energy becoming an increasingly popular topic across the country, central Wisconsin leaders hope to be on the cutting edge as demand grows.
Mid-State Technical College classes have begun for two new renewable energy programs, and three others already were in place. Demand is fueling the need for a sustainable/renewable energy training center at the school’s Wisconsin Rapids campus, officials said.
“This is a really solid start,” Mid-State President John Clark said Monday during a meeting with U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausau. “We’re hoping (others) will be using this as a pattern for future projects.”
Leaders hope to use a $428,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, which Obey earmarked within President Barack Obama’s $410 billion budget bill earlier this year, to purchase solar panels, wind turbines and other lab equipment.
Mid-State also is working with leaders at Energy Composites Corp. in Wisconsin Rapids and the North Central Wisconsin Workforce Development Board to develop a first-of-its-kind curriculum for wind-energy and composites training, an endeavor for which the board recently garnered a $100,000 grant from the state Department of Workforce Development.
Energy Composites continues its efforts to obtain LEED Platinum certification for its planned 350,000-square-foot manufacturing plant that will produce blades for industrial wind turbines in Wisconsin Rapids, President Jamie Mancl said.
“We’re trying to put everything together,” Mancl said Tuesday, after a closed session meeting with the Wisconsin Rapids Common Council to discuss the company developer’s agreement with the city. “It’s going to take some time, but we’re still on schedule.”
Energy Composites isn’t the only company that has been working on such a certification.
The Mead Wildlife Area Education & Visitor Center, near Milladore, announced Wednesday it received LEED Platinum Green Building Certification status, the highest level of sustainable design.
by jboullion | Sep 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by John Nichols in The Capital Times:
Wisconsin officials have seemed for too long to be at war with this state’s rich industrial legacy.
It is as if they live in a fantasy world that imagines this Great Lakes state will somehow become the next Silicon Valley.
But when state officials make policies that aim in the direction of fantasy-island developments rather than taking necessary steps to retain existing industrial jobs and to attract news ones, they undermine Wisconsin’s future.
That is what Department of Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi and his aides appear to be doing with their scheming to redevelop the Hoan Bridge/794 corridor in a manner that would decimate roughly two-thirds of the port of Milwaukee.
The port, still one of the largest and most well-situated on the Great Lakes, provides crucial support to our manufacturing base – not only in Milwaukee but all of southeastern Wisconsin, which remains one of the nation’s great centers for small and medium-sized factories.
But the port could be seriously undermined as a support for Wisconsin’s manufacturing sector if Busalacchi and the Doyle administration get their way.
According to documents obtained through an open records request initiated by Milwaukee County Supervisor Patricia Jursik, Busalacchi’s DOT has commissioned – at a cost of $225,000 – a study by the HNTB planning group of strategies for the demolition of the Hoan Bridge and the development of a condo and entertainment complex.
The port will be critical as Wisconsin develops manufacturing capabilities to supply the wind industry.
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.
