by jboullion | May 26, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a presentation to the Public Service Commission Wind Siting Council by Jevon D. McFadden, MD, MPH:
General Conclusions
Evidence does not support the conclusion that wind turbines cause or are associated with adverse health outcomes
Gaps remain in our knowledge of the impact that wind energy may have on human health
Potential positive and potential negative impacts
Passionate analyses, whether by proponents or opponents of wind energy development, may be subject to significant bias, which compromises credibility
Recommendations
Encourage concerned individuals to report symptoms or illness to a healthcare provider
Encourage health officials to continue to assess new evidence as it becomes available
Recommend involving affected individuals in siting process
Shadow Flicker
Wind turbine rotor frequencies
+Average 0.6–1.0 Hz
+Max 3 Hz (at 60 rpm)
+National Research Council: “Harmless to humans”
Photosensitivity epilepsy
+1/4,000 individuals
+Sunlight, TV are common precipitants
Flickeringlight most likely to trigger seizures
+5–30 Hz
Noise & Health —Conclusions
Chronic exposure to high levels of sound
+Hearing loss
+Altered physiological processes
Long-term health effects of chronic exposure to low level sound not well characterized
Noise sensitivity is important determinate of responses to noise
Response to moderate levels of sound affected by cognitive appraisal of sound source
Dr. McFadden lists the following affiliations at the beginning of his presentation:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention —Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer
United States Public Health Service —Lieutenant Commander
Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health, Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health
University of Wisconsin, School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Population Health Sciences —Adjunct Assistant Professor
by jboullion | May 24, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by RENEW Wisconsin:
MORE INFORMATION
Ry Thompson
Seventh Generation Energy Systems
608.467.0123
thompson@seventhgenergy.org
Alicia Leinberger
Seventh Generation Energy Systems
608-333-5375
alicia@seventhgenergy.org
Canadian company’s first U.S. turbine spins plenty of power for cranberry farm
Dentist Frederick Prehn, owner of Prehn Cranberry Marsh near Tomah, wanted the power that the cranberry farm paid for without having to pay the utility.
“The second order of business, I wanted a turbine that has a history of working in low wind speed,” said Prehn.
A 35-kilowatt (kW) Canadian turbine, perched on a 140-foot-tall tower, accomplishes both. The first of its model line ever manufactured by Endurance Wind Power, Prehn’s wind generator underwent five months of testing at the company’s Quebec manufacturing facility.
“Wind speeds are all relative,” Prehn said. “The wind speed in the cranberry bog isn’t as good as the Great Lakes, but I’m amazed. I’ve gone through all the data I can gather, and the turbine is producing pretty well.”
“The Endurance fits Wisconsin’s climate conditions,” according to Ry Thompson, a project manager with Seventh Generation Energy, Madison, which installed the turbine.
“We’ve been eager to install one of these,” Thompson said. “It’s a very well-designed, durable machine and the 30-foot long blades make it suitable to lower wind speed environments, as are common in Wisconsin,” Thompson said.
“This should be a very popular turbine among farmers, schools, small municipalities, and manufacturing facilities,” he added.
by jboullion | May 24, 2010 | Uncategorized
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2010
MORE INFORMATION
Ry Thompson
Seventh Generation Energy Systems
608.467.0123
thompson@seventhgenergy.org
Alicia Leinberger
Seventh Generation Energy Systems
608-333-5375
alicia@seventhgenergy.org
Canadian company’s first U.S. turbine spins plenty of power for cranberry farm
Dentist Frederick Prehn, owner of Prehn Cranberry Marsh near Tomah, wanted the power that the cranberry farm paid for without having to pay the utility.
“The second order of business, I wanted a turbine that has a history of working in low wind speed,” said Prehn.
A 35-kilowatt (kW) Canadian turbine, perched on a 140-foot-tall tower, accomplishes both. The first of its model line ever manufactured by Endurance Wind Power, Prehn’s wind generator underwent five months of testing at the company’s Quebec manufacturing facility.
“Wind speeds are all relative,” Prehn said. “The wind speed in the cranberry bog isn’t as good as the Great Lakes, but I’m amazed. I’ve gone through all the data I can gather, and the turbine is producing pretty well.”
“The Endurance fits Wisconsin’s climate conditions,” according to Ry Thompson, a project manager with Seventh Generation Energy, Madison, which installed the turbine.
“We’ve been eager to install one of these,” Thompson said. “It’s a very well-designed, durable machine and the 30-foot long blades make it suitable to lower wind speed environments, as are common in Wisconsin,” Thompson said.
“This should be a very popular turbine among farmers, schools, small municipalities, and manufacturing facilities,” he added.
The generator begins to produce electricity when the wind blows just under 8 miles per hour (mph). With an estimated average wind speed of 12.5 mph at his location, Prehn expects to harvest as much as 85,000 kilowatt hours of electricity – more than 150 percent of the amount he needs. The turbine powers a shop, three homes, and two wells. The excess energy is sold to the Oakdale Electric Cooperative, the farm’s local utility.
In addition, Seventh Generation installed a 5 kW solar electric system at the farm. “Some days the turbine produces goose eggs, and the solar system continues to crank out the electricity, and there’s no maintenance,” Prehn said.
“This is a shining example of home-grown energy,” stated Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a nonprofit advocate for all types of renewable energy.
“Installations like these help reduce Wisconsin’s dependence on coal from Wyoming which is transported here using oil from the Gulf of Mexico,” Vickerman said.
Prehn apparently agrees. He already has a contract with Seventh Generation to install a second Endurance turbine that will be slightly larger than the first.
END
RENEW Wisconsin (http://www.renewwisconsin.org/) is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives.
by jboullion | May 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
Disregarding the pleas from RENEW and others for a veto, Doyle signed Senate Bill 273, as reported by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Gov. Jim Doyle on Wednesday signed into law a bill that wind power developers and environmental groups had asked him to veto.
The bill, known as the Renewable Resource Credits bill, would allow energy generation produced from waste such as garbage to be classified as renewable and qualify that electricity for the state’s renewable power mandate.
The bill was drafted to grant renewable status to the Apollo light pipe, a a small glass skylight dome that, when mounted in a roof, reflects daylight inside to help cut energy use. The light pipe is a technology developed by Orion Energy Systems Inc. of Manitowoc, a maker of high-efficiency lighting systems.
Environmental and renewable energy groups had called on Doyle to veto the bill after it was amended to allow garbage-to-energy projects to be classified as renewable as well.
Doyle said he was torn on whether to sign the bill but said that, ultimately, Orion is the kind of business the state wants to see grow and succeed.
“I certainly didn’t want to be in the position I was in. To me the (state) Senate’s refusal to go ahead with the Clean Energy Jobs Act put everybody in a very difficult spot on this bill,” he said.
Doyle conceded that there would be some effect on the wind industry from the new law but said it would be so slight as to be negligible.
A waste-to-energy process known as plasma gasification is being envisioned by Alliance Federated Energy, which announced a plan in February to build a waste-to-energy plant in Milwaukee that would create up to 250 construction jobs and 50 permanent jobs.
by jboullion | May 18, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a blog post by Tom Content on JSonline:
Energy Composites Corp. will receive $45 million of tax-exempt bonds to assist in the construction of its wind power blade factory in Wisconsin Rapids, Gov. Jim Doyle’s office announced.
The company is receiving Recovery Zone Facility Bonds, which the facility is eligible for under a law that passed earlier this year that allows the state to maximize federal bonds to help fund projects.
Energy Composites, which employs 67 people, projects that its expansion will create up to 600 jobs.
The company’s factory is designed to produce up to 1,500 utility-scale wind blades per year, for use in both onshore and offshore wind farms.
Energy Composites said in a statement that it has completed the purchase of land in Wisconsin Rapids for its new factory. Two different properties were acquired — a 54-acre parcel for the 535,000-square-foot factory and a 41-acre parcel for the company’s logistics center.
The $54.4 million investment will be the first factory in North America designed to produce blades up to 65 meters long, which could position the company to deliver blades for large turbines both on land and offshore, according to the governor’s office.
Site improvements by the city of Wisconsin Rapids are under way, and the city has committed $7.5 million in development incentives toward the project.
