Milwaukee project lauded for sustainability and solar installation

From a story by Mary Louise Schumacher in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:From a coffeehouse with a green design to a gathering place in a former industrial wasteland, from a dynamic railway station to a new airport concourse, from a face lift for what's now an upscale Cajun eatery to the restored roof of an old Polish church, 27 projects will be honored today by Mayor Tom Barrett for contributing to Milwaukee's urban landscape.Barrett will present the Mayor's Urban Design Awards, for design excellence, and the Cream of the Cream City Awards, for smart preservation, at a reception at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Architecture and Urban Planning, 2131 E. Hartford Ave., at 5 p.m. The design awards will go to projects completed...

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Fox Valley companies win 2008 Pulp and Paper Energy Efficiency Awards

From a press release issued by Governor Doyle:NEENAH – Governor Jim Doyle today announced the 2008 Pulp and Paper Energy Efficiency Awards, recognizing Proctor and Gamble Corporation of Green Bay and Neenah Paper of Neenah for outstanding achievement in implementing an energy efficiency projects. Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Secretary Rod Nilsestuen presented the awards on behalf of the Governor at the Wisconsin Paper Council Annual meeting in Neenah. . . . Proctor & Gamble Corporation won the 2008 Project for Innovation award for construction of a new energy efficient tissue paper machine at their Green Bay location. The machine uses new technology to deliver its product using 19% less natural gas and electricity than most modern machines. This improvement...

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EU emissions trading scheme rewards polluters

Harmful emissions trading scheme is EU mechanism that allows the issuance of free emission quotas, and this mechanism could bring huge profits to companies from energy sector of five EU countries. Those profits can go up to 71 billion euros in next four years.Studies for World Wildlife Fund - WWF conducted by carbon gases market research company called “Point Carbon” showed that in second phase...

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Oil prices at record levels

Serious oil shortage is to be expected in years to come.New oil price record (more than $134 for barrel, 05/22/2008, New York Mercantile Exchange - NYME) has been set after US government confessed decrease in crude oil and gasoline stockpiles last week, surprising analysts who were expecting an increase. U.S. Energy Information Administration said that crude stocks fell by 5.4 million barrels...

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Movie: Escape from Suburbia, June 17, Urban Ecology Center

The interest group Paths to a Sustainable Future will show Escape from Suburbia, the sequel to the award-winning film, The End of Suburbia, about the future of the American dream after the oil age. This film focuses on viable alternatives for communities working at the local level. The movie will be shown at the interest group's meeting which begins at 6:00 p.m. at the Urban Ecology Center, 1859 North 40th Street, (414) 344-54...

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Solar Valley grows under cloudy German skies

RENEW Wisconsin supports and the Governor's Global Warming Task Force has before it the concept of fixed above-market prices (called feed-in tariffs) for electricity produced from renewable resources, as described in an article by Mark Landler in The New York Times:THALHEIM, Germany — This sad stretch of eastern Germany, with its deserted coal mines and corroded factories, epitomizes post-industrial gloom. It is a place where even the clouds rarely seem to part.Yet the sun was shining here the other day — and nowhere more brightly than at Q-Cells, a German company that surpassed Sharp last year to become the world’s largest maker of photovoltaic solar cells. Q-Cells is the main tenant among a flowering cluster of solar start-ups here in an area known as Solar Valley.Thanks to its aggressive...

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We Energies wind project begins commercial operation

From a press release issued by We Energies:MILWAUKEE- We Energies’ Blue Sky Green Field wind project was placed into commercial service today. The 88 turbines have a demonstrated capacity of 145 megawatts and are expected to generate more than 328 million emission-free kilowatt hours annually - enough to power 36,000 homes.“Blue Sky Green Field is one of several targeted efforts we’re undertaking to generate more energy from renewable resources,” said Rick Kuester, executive vice president of Wisconsin Energy Corporation, the parent of We Energies. “We appreciate the support we have received from our customers and from the communities of Calumet and Marshfield and northeast Fond du Lac County in making the project a reality.”At a cost of approximately $300 million, the Blue Sky Green Field...

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Sun's energy facts

The energy coming from the sun to the Earth's surface is called solar energy. Sun energy is generated in its nucleus mainly through the thermonuclear reaction of hydrogen fusion into helium. In the form of electromagnetic waves this energy is then transmitted from the nucleus towards the surface of the Sun and further on in the surrounding space. The Sun's energy is generated in its core....

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Gas Tax Pain

From a new Fossil Fuel Watch by Michael Vickerman:Could there be more convincing proof of America’s debilitating addiction to oil than the recent calls to institute a gasoline tax holiday issued by two of the three presidential aspirants still in the race? Imagine what would happen if a candidate for public office endorsed a repeal of cigarette taxes. Articulating such a position would instantly disqualify that candidate from serious consideration by rank and file voters. Indeed, it would stop a candidacy faster than you can say “macaca.” Yet, while Sens. John McCain or Hillary Clinton, both advocates of suspending the 18.4 cents/gallon gasoline tax, have been excoriated in editorials for espousing such patent flim-flam, they don’t seem to have lost any ground with the voting public. While...

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Details released on nation's premier energy education event in Custer, Wisconsin

Join the MREA and RENEW for the 19th annual Energy Fair June 20-22, 2008. The Fair will be held at MREA's headquarters, the ReNew the Earth Institute, located at 7558 Deer Road in Custer, WI. See the Travel and Accommodations page for directions and other information. General Energy Fair InformationSince 1990, the Energy Fair has shown fairgoers how to change the world while having fun. Each summer the Fair transforms rural central Wisconsin into the global hot spot for renewable energy education. The Energy Fair is the world's largest renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable living educational event of its kind. Please join us this year!The Energy Fair features hundreds of workshops and exhibits all emphasizing clean energy & sustainable living and is fun for the whole family....

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Manitowoc mayor named to panel to study lake wind energy

From an article in the Manitowoc Hearld Tribune Reporter:MANITOWOC - Mayor Kevin Crawford has agreed to serve as co-chairman of the Wind in the Great Lakes Work Group formed by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.The group will review the viability of wind power development on the Great Lakes. The commission is working with the Department of Natural Resources and the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands.The work group includes representatives who have an interest or stake in the development of wind power."The future of our city, our state and nation is to be found in renewable resources and alternative fuels," Crawford said in a news release. "The Great Lakes are not only the largest fresh water resource in the world, but they may also be the solution to much of our nation's energy problems...

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WPPI awards Oconomoc and two other cities two-year energy-saving program

From a story by Matthew Inda on LivingLakeCountry.com:City of Oconomowoc - For the next two years, Oconomowoc will partake in a communitywide effort that will raise even stronger conservation ethics by way of a pilot program awarded by Wisconsin Public Power Inc. (WPPI). The program known as Leading by Example will give Oconomowoc Utilities the opportunity to better educate and demonstrate the effectiveness of energy efficiency, conservation and renewable resources development.The program suits Oconomowoc well, based on its established environmental awareness and involvement, according to Wisconsin Public Power Inc. spokeswoman Anne Rodriguez."We were looking for a community where there is strong leadership in this area," she said. "Oconomowoc really provided that natural fit."The only other...

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Kohl's solar program becomes world's largest among retailers

From a press release issued by Kohl's Department Stores:MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis., May 12, 2008 — Kohl’s Department Stores (NYSE: KSS) announced today that it plans to convert more than 50 of its existing New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland locations to solar power, representing nearly 80 percent of its locations in these three states. Currently, Kohl’s operates 34 stores in New Jersey, 17 in Connecticut and 16 in Maryland. With the East Coast solar installation, Kohl’s is the largest retail host of solar power, and its distributed solar program is now the largest in the world among retailers. In a distributed solar program, silent, renewable energy is produced and used at the same location requiring no transmission infrastructure. Kohl’s has converted more than 25 of its 88 California locations...

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Electricity facts

The electric energy (electrical energy, electricity) is the potential energy associated with the conservative Coulomb forces between charged particles contained within a system, where the reference potential energy is usually chosen to be zero for particles at infinite separation.The movement of electric charge is known as an electric current, and intensity of which is usually measured in ampe...

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Johnson Controls helps Michigan school afford solar power

From an article by Jim Kasuba in The News Herald (Southgate, MI):WYANDOTTE — The sun was shining brightly on the day the city and school district kicked off their first-ever solar energy project.It was just as fitting that officials chose Earth Day to highlight the installation of a 10-kilowatt photovoltaic system on the roof of Wilson Middle School.Melanie McCoy, general manager of Wyandotte Municipal Services, said her department received a $50,000 Michigan Energy Office matching grant earlier this year for the design, installation, operation and maintenance of the renewable energy system.She said Wyandotte Municipal Services was pleasantly surprised by an offer from Johnson Controls, a Milwaukee-based company working with the district to integrate the project into the school's curriculum."Wyandotte...

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Racine City Council votes to allow electric vehicles

From an article by Stephanie Brien in The Journal Times (Racine):RACINE — Julie Conigliaro is the proud new owner of a neighborhood electric vehicle, thanks to a City Council decision Tuesday night. Following the City Council’s vote to allow electric vehicles to drive in city limits, Conigliaro signed the dotted line on her new car.“I’m really happy with it,” said Conigliaro, 41, literally jumping off the ground outside the City Council chambers after they unanimously approved the ordinance. In accordance with state law, the city had to approve an ordinance before neighborhood electric vehicles could be driven within city limits. The new ordinance allows electric cars on all city streets with a speed limit of 35 mph or less.Madison adopted a similar ordinance in April and Union Grove is in...

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Waukesha home installs solar panels on shingles of recycled diapers

From an article by Linda McAlpine on GM Today: WAUKESHA - From the faux-slate shingles made of recycled baby diapers and rooftop solar panels to its engineered wood floors, the house being built at 1512 Rock Ridge Way in Waukesha is anything but traditional.The 2,100 square-foot house is the 2008 Wisconsin Trend Home and when completed later this summer will house the latest in energy-saving and environmentally-friendly technology.Starting at the top, Tim O’Brien, of O’Brien Homes, Waukesha, builder of the home, walked through some of its cutting edge highlights."The shingles, which look like slate, are made of recycled baby diapers, tires and plastic bottles," he said. "Because they’re light, they don’t need the structure to support them so you need less wood. You’re doing something good...

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We Energies offers renewable energy feasibility study grants

From Amy Flom, We Energies Consultant:We Energies is offering Renewable Energy Feasibility Study Grants to its business and not-for-profit electric customers, as well as to organizations teamed with We Energies business and non-profit electric customers. This program helps to cover the costs of studying the feasibility of installing a renewable electricity generation project at a customer's facility. Funds also can be used to conduct research on a renewable energy product or technology, or to help demonstrate or commercially advance a renewable energy product or technology into the marketplace. How much grant money is available per project?We Energies will fund half the cost that remains after other funding sources are applied to the cost of the study or project, up to a maximum grant of $200,000....

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Nuclear energy safety report for Congress

Recently I found an interesting document called "Nuclear Power Plants: Vulnerability to Terrorist Attack" which was made for US Congress, which I think you may find interesting:CRS Report for CongressNuclear Power Plants:Vulnerability to Terrorist AttackCarl Behrens and Mark HoltSpecialists in Energy PolicyResources, Science, and Industry DivisionUpdated February 4, 2005SummaryProtection of...

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Manitowoc wind-tower company set to expand

From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:More expansion is in the works for Tower Tech Systems Inc. of Manitowoc after its parent company raised $100 million in a stock sale.Tower Tech is a manufacturer of towers used in wind power projects, a growth area within the manufacturing sector given the record pace in the expansion of wind power generation projects across the country.For Tower Tech, growth is buoyed in part by an agreement it signed this month to supply wind towers to a subsidiary of the Spanish company Gamesa, a leading player in the global wind industry.Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but Broadwind says it is the largest single order for towers placed by Gamesa with a North American tower manufacturer. Delivery from Manitowoc of the 256-foot,...

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Blue Sky Green Field Wind Farm almost operational

From an article by Brett Rowland in The Reporter (Fond du Lac):JOHNSBURG — The status of the Blue Sky Green Field Wind Farm has generated a lot of hot air from locals, but operator We Energies said the 88 turbines haven't started generating power. Blue Sky Green Field remains under construction as We Energies tests the turbines, said company spokesman Barry McNulty. In recent weeks, locals have called and e-mailed The Reporter with rumors about the project, including that it had been shut down due to stray voltage. Another rumor presented to The Reporter stated the turbines were not constructed properly and the blades could come loose. McNulty denied those rumors and said the project is progressing according to schedule. "It just goes to show that it doesn't matter the type of fuel — nuclear,...

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