The Wisconsin Renewable Quarterly, RENEW Wisconsin’s newsletter, features these articles:
+ Rest in Peace: Cassville Generation Plant
+ Mississippi River Bird and Bat Study
+ Osceola School Heats Pools with Solar
+ Bob Ramlow: Solar Pioneer
+ Focus on Energy Issues Biogas Profiles
+ Focus on Energy Earns National Honor
+ State Plugs into Renewable Energy
From an article by Wayne Nelson in BusinessNorth:
The region’s economy already has a tint of “green,” ranging from hydroelectric and wind-generated power to biofuels development and environmentally-friendly building design.
And it’s in a potential sweet spot for a boost from President Barack Obama’s “green economy” initiative that promises $150 billion in federal funding over the next decade to help address climate change issues, and develop 5 million green collar jobs in the process.
“Any renewables stimulus program will be huge for this region,” said Chris Wiberg, chief operations officer at Twin Ports Testing in Superior. “We have a lot of woody biomass,” he said, noting the challenge is to divine commercially viable technology. “The question is how to use it,” he said.
Twin Ports Testing launched a fuels analysis lab in 1980 and is in the vanguard in this search for renewable biomass fuels. That laboratory has assisted one corner of this sector — producing wood pellets from biomass for residential, commercial and industrial heating — get off the ground.
The article highlights many area businesses in the renewable energy industry.
From a story by John Krerowicz in the Kenosha News:
The need for wind energy technician training is not a lot of hot air, said those involved in a conference to be held here on the topic.
The summit is expected to draw 50 participants from the industry and technical colleges on Jan. 6-7 at Snap-on’s Innovation Works. The renovated building, on the company’s headquarters site, 2801 80th St., was the production factory until it closed in 2004.
Representatives from Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wis., Texas State Technical College in Sweetwater, Texas, and Iowa Lakes Community College are expected to attend.
One goal of the gathering is to designate representatives to be liaisons with lawmakers in Madison and Washington, D.C., where the new administration is expected to be more receptive to clean energy. The liaisons would promote appropriate policies and encourage funding for training and related issues.
The group also wants to develop a standard training program that technical schools can adopt and quickly implement to meet the anticipated need for technicians, said Fred Brookhouse, Snap-on’s business and education partnership manager and business development manager over education.
There appears to be no formal study of the number of jobs that the young industry would create. The Focus for Energy Web site currently lists 21 installers, including some in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Illionois, with a Milwaukee firm the closest to Kenosha.
But Brookhouse said the need for technicians to install and service wind energy technology will be evident once the country accepts that our major energy supplies are finite.
From a story posted on WKBT-TV:
[The] Grand River Station in downtown La Crosse . . . which will be more than just a new place to catch the bus. “In addition to the transit center, there’s commercial space here as well as 87 residential apartments and condos; it’s a six-story building and it will bring a lot of people activity downtown La Crosse,” says La Crosse Transit Utility Manager Keith Carlson.
The $20 million construction project has been in the works for years, and will serve as the new hub for public transportation in La Crosse. The new station will serve more than just the River City, with routes going to other near-by areas. “I think that not only does this help within the city of La Crosse from a transportation standpoint, using mass transit, but I think it’s got an awful lot of potential of brining communities together,” says La Crosse Mayor Mark Johnsrud.
From a a story by story by Larry Oakes in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune.
Part of Duluth’s success is having land-based logistical support and cooperative state agencies, especially DOT. Can Minnesota’s success be replicated here …?
DULUTH — In 2005, a ship called the Bavaria arrived in Duluth-Superior from Europe with a visually stunning cargo the gritty taconite and coal port had never seen: gargantuan yet somehow slender blades, hubs and shafts meant for towering wind turbines.
Since then, America’s increasing embrace of wind power has brought the port a windfall, with shipments surging to make the head of the Great Lakes a major funnel for turbines destined for the Upper Midwest and parts of Canada. Jason Paulson, operations manager for Lake Superior Warehousing Co., which transfers turbines from ships to specially designed semitrailer truck caravans, said the port is on track to handle a record 2,000 windmill components this year for several manufacturers, most bound for wind farms in Montana, Oklahoma, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. Shipments of wind turbines through the port shot from 34,080 freight tons in 2005 to 307,000 freight tons last year.
The Duluth Seaway Port Authority reported this year that transportation of wind turbines was the single largest factor in making fiscal year 2007 its most profitable.
“The growth is explosive,” Paulson said. “There were times this season when we were moving 12 windmills a day. It’s become the major portion of our heavy-lift business.”
Other stories about the Duluth port.