ECOS Meets with Town of Menasha Sustain Committee
At the August meeting of ECOS-FV, we discussed the future form of ECOS-FV and what roles and activities its membership would support.
We are happy to report that the outcome of this meeting was:
1) To establish a closer relationship with the Town of Menasha’s Sustainability Committee, blending the community actions of the Town with the educational programs of ECOS and using the broader advertising capacity of the Town to enhance attendance and generate broader community appeal and interest.
2) To maintain the ECOS Blog Site and the Email Information Network as is: Our continued thanks to both Ed Blume and Connie Kanitz for this.
Please join us as we meet with the members of the Town of Menasha’s Sustainability Committee to review the opportunities and activities that we can jointly achieve…
Place: Menasha Public Library, Company E Room in the lower level
Date: Thursday, September 1st
Time: 6:30 PM
Meeting is Free and Open to the Public
Call 920-722-6438 for more information
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Fox Valley water resources: What do we have to lose?
Join Sierra Club Conservation Chair Will Stahl on Thursday, September 8 at 7:00 PM at the Bubolz Nature Preserve, 4815 N. Lynndale Drive, Appleton (map) for Fox Valley Water Resources: What do we have to Lose?,an interactive discussion with local community groups and concerned citizens about the outstanding and exceptional resource waters in northeast Wisconsin, as well as factory farm pollution and other threats to our water quality.
We'll also take some time to discuss the need for increased oversight of polluters that can help protect our lakes, rivers, and streams, including targeted water monitoring, stronger regulations on waste spreading and air pollutants, and increased incentives for sustainable farming. For more information, please contact Will Stahl at: wrsy55@sbcglobal.net.
We'll also take some time to discuss the need for increased oversight of polluters that can help protect our lakes, rivers, and streams, including targeted water monitoring, stronger regulations on waste spreading and air pollutants, and increased incentives for sustainable farming. For more information, please contact Will Stahl at: wrsy55@sbcglobal.net.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wind turbine to produce electricity for Random Lake farm
From an article by Bob Petrie in the Sheboygan Press:
TOWN OF SHERMAN — It's a tall order for the 120-foot wind turbine that towers over the Preder farm on county Highway I just outside Random Lake.
The turbine, installed this week on a small hill behind the farmhouse, is expected to produce all the power needed to run the household and the farming operation, with a little bit left over for the neighbors.
"We're trying to make it so that we're not relying on everybody else for energy," said Mike Preder, 32, who helps his father, Jeff, and mother, Kathy, raise growth hormone free Piedmontese cattle and free-range chickens on the 140 acre property.
Ed Ritger, a Random Lake attorney and the Preders' next-door neighbor, is financing the $500,000 tower, with about half of the cost covered through grants offered from the federal government and Focus on Energy. Ritger, who owns a hobby farm, looks at the turbine as an investment that will pay for itself during a 10- to 15-year period, and be around to produce energy for a lot longer.
"It's an investment, but it's also an opportunity to send a message that we need to do more renewable energy," said Ritger, 64. "That's a message I've been preaching for a long time. So my wife and I are putting some dollars behind that message."
The building in Random Lake where Ritger's law firm is housed was equipped about a decade ago with solar panels. The panels power the building, and the excess electricity goes back to the power grid. He thought it would be a good idea to try building a turbine out in the country, and the Preders were receptive to the idea.
"We've been neighbors for 40 years, and you can't put a wind turbine in the valley, (you) put it on the best hill that you've got," Ritger said. "So that's how this joint venture was put together; the Preders providing the site and the Ritgers providing the capital."
The Preders, whose energy bills run about $400 a month, worked with Kettle View Renewable Energy, a Silver Lake firm, to acquire and install the wind turbine. The company, which has been in business since 2006, has put in turbines for the Cascade wastewater plant and at Random Lake High School. The turbine, with its 34½-foot long blades, that serves the Preder property can produce up to 120,000-kilowatt hours per year, about 30,000 more than the Preders usually consume annually. The turbine generates energy in wind speeds of 7 mph or greater.
TOWN OF SHERMAN — It's a tall order for the 120-foot wind turbine that towers over the Preder farm on county Highway I just outside Random Lake.
The turbine, installed this week on a small hill behind the farmhouse, is expected to produce all the power needed to run the household and the farming operation, with a little bit left over for the neighbors.
"We're trying to make it so that we're not relying on everybody else for energy," said Mike Preder, 32, who helps his father, Jeff, and mother, Kathy, raise growth hormone free Piedmontese cattle and free-range chickens on the 140 acre property.
Ed Ritger, a Random Lake attorney and the Preders' next-door neighbor, is financing the $500,000 tower, with about half of the cost covered through grants offered from the federal government and Focus on Energy. Ritger, who owns a hobby farm, looks at the turbine as an investment that will pay for itself during a 10- to 15-year period, and be around to produce energy for a lot longer.
"It's an investment, but it's also an opportunity to send a message that we need to do more renewable energy," said Ritger, 64. "That's a message I've been preaching for a long time. So my wife and I are putting some dollars behind that message."
The building in Random Lake where Ritger's law firm is housed was equipped about a decade ago with solar panels. The panels power the building, and the excess electricity goes back to the power grid. He thought it would be a good idea to try building a turbine out in the country, and the Preders were receptive to the idea.
"We've been neighbors for 40 years, and you can't put a wind turbine in the valley, (you) put it on the best hill that you've got," Ritger said. "So that's how this joint venture was put together; the Preders providing the site and the Ritgers providing the capital."
The Preders, whose energy bills run about $400 a month, worked with Kettle View Renewable Energy, a Silver Lake firm, to acquire and install the wind turbine. The company, which has been in business since 2006, has put in turbines for the Cascade wastewater plant and at Random Lake High School. The turbine, with its 34½-foot long blades, that serves the Preder property can produce up to 120,000-kilowatt hours per year, about 30,000 more than the Preders usually consume annually. The turbine generates energy in wind speeds of 7 mph or greater.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Big ball of fire heats water for UW-Oshkosh
From an article by Doug Zellmer in the Appleton Post-Crescent:
OSHKOSH — That big ball of fire in the sky is creating some green for the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
The installation of 120 solar thermal panels on the roofs of four campus buildings — Albee Hall, Blackhawk Commons, Taylor residence hall and the heating plant — are harnessing energy from the sun.
Collectively they make up the largest solar thermal system in the state.
In addition, solar and photovoltaic panels are in the final phase of installation at the new Sage Hall, the $40 million four-story academic building that will open for classes this fall. The building is expected to save about $182,000 a year in energy costs, predominately through energy efficient state-of-the-art construction.
"This is one of our campus planning goals. We want to reduce the consumption of carbon-based fuels like coal and natural gas," said Steve Arndt, director of facilities management at UW-Oshkosh.
The cost for the solar thermal panel project for the four buildings, excluding Sage Hall, which is being done by a separate contractor, is about $700,000 and includes pumps, piping, tanks, controllers, roofing work, labor and the solar thermal panels.
However, UW-Oshkosh isn't paying a penny for it. Regenesis Solar is paying for and are owners of the thermal system on the four buildings.
It sells the thermal energy on a metered basis to the state.
Although the estimated annual reduction in energy costs was not immediately available, solar thermal panels installed on the four buildings are expected to generate a natural gas savings of $10,000 annually, said Mike Lizotte, director of sustainability for UW-Oshkosh.
He lauded the solar thermal panel system and its versatility.
"One is going to wash dishes, one is for showers in a dorm, one is to heat a pool and one is heating
OSHKOSH — That big ball of fire in the sky is creating some green for the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
The installation of 120 solar thermal panels on the roofs of four campus buildings — Albee Hall, Blackhawk Commons, Taylor residence hall and the heating plant — are harnessing energy from the sun.
Collectively they make up the largest solar thermal system in the state.
In addition, solar and photovoltaic panels are in the final phase of installation at the new Sage Hall, the $40 million four-story academic building that will open for classes this fall. The building is expected to save about $182,000 a year in energy costs, predominately through energy efficient state-of-the-art construction.
"This is one of our campus planning goals. We want to reduce the consumption of carbon-based fuels like coal and natural gas," said Steve Arndt, director of facilities management at UW-Oshkosh.
The cost for the solar thermal panel project for the four buildings, excluding Sage Hall, which is being done by a separate contractor, is about $700,000 and includes pumps, piping, tanks, controllers, roofing work, labor and the solar thermal panels.
However, UW-Oshkosh isn't paying a penny for it. Regenesis Solar is paying for and are owners of the thermal system on the four buildings.
It sells the thermal energy on a metered basis to the state.
Although the estimated annual reduction in energy costs was not immediately available, solar thermal panels installed on the four buildings are expected to generate a natural gas savings of $10,000 annually, said Mike Lizotte, director of sustainability for UW-Oshkosh.
He lauded the solar thermal panel system and its versatility.
"One is going to wash dishes, one is for showers in a dorm, one is to heat a pool and one is heating
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
County board in Iowa OKs wind farm ordinance with 1,000-foot setback
From an article by Rob Daniel in the Iowa City Press-Citizen:
Johnson County is a step closer to having its own wind farms after the Johnson County Board of Supervisors approved a new ordinance governing their use Thursday.
The new ordinance would allow for a commercial wind energy facility to be built on agricultural land as long as the turbine did not exceed 55 decibels in noise level, was at least 1,000 feet from an occupied building and each turbine had a permit approved by the supervisors. The owner of the turbine also would be responsible for paying for any damage to roads caused by the installation and maintenance of the machines, according to the ordinance.
Supervisor Janelle Rettig said it was a matter of being more energy efficient.
"I think we have to do more to be energy efficient and go on an energy diet," she said. "If we're unwilling to (allow wind farms), we'd better be ready for a nuclear plant or a coal-fired plant in this area."
The passage of the ordinance comes on the heels of Chicago-based PNE WIND USA Inc. announcing in February plans for a 3,000 acre, 30 megawatt wind farm that will open in late 2012 or early 2013 in Solon.
Keith Kurtz, PNE's project manager for the planned wind farm, said the turbines are quiet and typically have brought in more money from rental of the half acre of land used for the machine than in planting a crop.
"I'm in three different projects, and I love it," he said.
The passage of the ordinance, which supervisors said was being developed before PNE announced its plans, did not come without hang-ups, however. Several neighbors of the proposed PNE wind farm said they were concerned about the noise and potential health effects from the turbines.
However, supervisors said they visited wind farms Aug. 1 in Story County and said they found them to be relatively quiet. Their main hang-up was whether the turbines should be set back from occupied buildings more than 1,000 feet and how much control they should have on the permit process rather than the Johnson County Engineer's Office.
In the end, the board voted unanimously to pass the ordinance.
Johnson County is a step closer to having its own wind farms after the Johnson County Board of Supervisors approved a new ordinance governing their use Thursday.
The new ordinance would allow for a commercial wind energy facility to be built on agricultural land as long as the turbine did not exceed 55 decibels in noise level, was at least 1,000 feet from an occupied building and each turbine had a permit approved by the supervisors. The owner of the turbine also would be responsible for paying for any damage to roads caused by the installation and maintenance of the machines, according to the ordinance.
Supervisor Janelle Rettig said it was a matter of being more energy efficient.
"I think we have to do more to be energy efficient and go on an energy diet," she said. "If we're unwilling to (allow wind farms), we'd better be ready for a nuclear plant or a coal-fired plant in this area."
The passage of the ordinance comes on the heels of Chicago-based PNE WIND USA Inc. announcing in February plans for a 3,000 acre, 30 megawatt wind farm that will open in late 2012 or early 2013 in Solon.
Keith Kurtz, PNE's project manager for the planned wind farm, said the turbines are quiet and typically have brought in more money from rental of the half acre of land used for the machine than in planting a crop.
"I'm in three different projects, and I love it," he said.
The passage of the ordinance, which supervisors said was being developed before PNE announced its plans, did not come without hang-ups, however. Several neighbors of the proposed PNE wind farm said they were concerned about the noise and potential health effects from the turbines.
However, supervisors said they visited wind farms Aug. 1 in Story County and said they found them to be relatively quiet. Their main hang-up was whether the turbines should be set back from occupied buildings more than 1,000 feet and how much control they should have on the permit process rather than the Johnson County Engineer's Office.
In the end, the board voted unanimously to pass the ordinance.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Landfill installs renewable energy
From an article in the Appleton Post-Crescent:
Hickory Meadows landfill in Hilbert has unlocked its green energy potential.
A plant installed on site will produce renewable energy from the waste, Veolia Energy North America announced Tuesday.
The facility, known as the gas-to-energy project, had been under construction since December 2010. It will remove all waste and inject that dirty methane haze produced at the landfill into its combustion engines to generate electric power.
Previously, the gas — half methane and half carbon dioxide — which is produced by bacteria digesting the waste, was flared up at the landfill.
Veolia said the gas-to-energy project has the capacity to generate 42,000-megawatt hours of renewable electricity annually, enough to power 2,800 homes.
The energy company plans to sell all the power to Wisconsin Public Service. Wisconsin Public Service Corp. in Green Bay serves about 437,000 electrical customers and 317,000 natural gas customers in northern and central Wisconsin and a portion of Michigan's upper peninsula.
The green technology is a positive step for Veolia, which noted the state's goal of having 10 percent of its retail energy needs come from renewable sources by 2015.
Hickory Meadows landfill in Hilbert has unlocked its green energy potential.
A plant installed on site will produce renewable energy from the waste, Veolia Energy North America announced Tuesday.
The facility, known as the gas-to-energy project, had been under construction since December 2010. It will remove all waste and inject that dirty methane haze produced at the landfill into its combustion engines to generate electric power.
Previously, the gas — half methane and half carbon dioxide — which is produced by bacteria digesting the waste, was flared up at the landfill.
Veolia said the gas-to-energy project has the capacity to generate 42,000-megawatt hours of renewable electricity annually, enough to power 2,800 homes.
The energy company plans to sell all the power to Wisconsin Public Service. Wisconsin Public Service Corp. in Green Bay serves about 437,000 electrical customers and 317,000 natural gas customers in northern and central Wisconsin and a portion of Michigan's upper peninsula.
The green technology is a positive step for Veolia, which noted the state's goal of having 10 percent of its retail energy needs come from renewable sources by 2015.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Wind tower sales continue to grow for Manitowoc company
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Sales of wind towers made in Manitowoc and Texas rose 48% in the second quarter for Broadwind Energy Inc., the firm said Friday.
Sales of wind towers totaled $24.5 million in the second quarter, up $8 million, or 48%, from last year. For the first six months of the year, sales were nearly doubled, to $52.7 million from $28.6 million.
Broadwind Energy is based in Naperville, Ill., and operates the tower factory in Manitowoc formerly known as Tower Tech. That factory produced towers now under construction for the We Energies wind farm northeast of Madison, the Glacier Hills Wind Park. It also built the towers for the Shirley Wind farm that opened last year south of Green Bay.
Towers accounted for nearly two-thirds of the sales for Broadwind Energy, which also operates gearing and service businesses that serve the wind market as well as the oil and gas industry. That side of the business is growing with a surge in domestic oil and gas production.
Sales of wind towers made in Manitowoc and Texas rose 48% in the second quarter for Broadwind Energy Inc., the firm said Friday.
Sales of wind towers totaled $24.5 million in the second quarter, up $8 million, or 48%, from last year. For the first six months of the year, sales were nearly doubled, to $52.7 million from $28.6 million.
Broadwind Energy is based in Naperville, Ill., and operates the tower factory in Manitowoc formerly known as Tower Tech. That factory produced towers now under construction for the We Energies wind farm northeast of Madison, the Glacier Hills Wind Park. It also built the towers for the Shirley Wind farm that opened last year south of Green Bay.
Towers accounted for nearly two-thirds of the sales for Broadwind Energy, which also operates gearing and service businesses that serve the wind market as well as the oil and gas industry. That side of the business is growing with a surge in domestic oil and gas production.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Paper mill prepares to produce biomass
From an article by Aaron Martin on UpperMichigansSource.com:
QUINNESEC -- A $43 million makeover for the Verso Paper Mill in Quinnesec is expected to be completed this fall.
The renewable energy project will convert useless wood scraps into biomass to power the paper mill.
The new energy source is both environmentally friendly and will meet more than 95 percent of the mills energy needs, saving more than $7 million a year. More than 80 jobs were also created during the construction phase of the project.
"This investment is huge for the economy of the U.P. and the greater northern Wisconsin and southern U.P. area where we draw our wood supply from," said Verso Communications Director Mark Pontti. "Putting people to work in the woods, expanding our capacity to, again, take in that supply but also indirectly the jobs that are created."
QUINNESEC -- A $43 million makeover for the Verso Paper Mill in Quinnesec is expected to be completed this fall.
The renewable energy project will convert useless wood scraps into biomass to power the paper mill.
The new energy source is both environmentally friendly and will meet more than 95 percent of the mills energy needs, saving more than $7 million a year. More than 80 jobs were also created during the construction phase of the project.
"This investment is huge for the economy of the U.P. and the greater northern Wisconsin and southern U.P. area where we draw our wood supply from," said Verso Communications Director Mark Pontti. "Putting people to work in the woods, expanding our capacity to, again, take in that supply but also indirectly the jobs that are created."
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
FdL couple harnesses solar power, sells it back to Alliant Energy
From an article by Monica Walk in the Fond du Lac Reporter:
Can you imagine watching your electric meter roll backward — legally?
Jeanne and John McDowell know that delight, thanks to the solar panels they installed on their home’s roof last fall. The 18 panels on the back of their home generate more power than the couple consumes and the excess is sold back to Alliant Energy.
“We generate far more than we are using,” Jeanne McDowell said. “The money we earn pays for our electricity, fees, charges and taxes, and some of our gas usage. This summer, we have earned a two-month credit and will apply that toward future bills.”
The McDowells are among three households and one business in Fond du Lac currently generating solar power, said Alliant Associate Product Manager in Renewables Tracy Vail. It’s a small but growing group, Vail said.
A bi-directional digital meter installed in the McDowells’ laundry room clocks the electricity produced, as well as the amount the McDowells use. An inverter mounted in the same location hooks into the main fuse box and changes the current from direct (DC) to alternating (AC) for use in the home.
Nearby, the McDowells keep a daily log of their energy creation. By mid-July, they had saved 55,000 pounds of CO2 and logged more than 3,300 kilowatt hours since the panels went live. For comparison, a watt is the gauge of how much energy an appliance burns in one hour, and a compact fluorescent bulb burns 12-14 watts in an hour.
“Eleven a.m. is the best time” for energy generation, John McDowell noted. “And a cool, sunny day creates more electricity than a hot, sunny day when the UV is blocked.”
Environmental conservatives
Their life experiences and current living situation influenced the McDowells’ decision to install the solar panels. Together, the couple has lived and worked abroad as teachers for a number of years in Germany and Japan, where solar panels may be compulsory in all new construction by 2030, according to a May report in the Nikkei business daily.
“We’ve lived in countries where energy is more expensive,” Jeanne noted. “And, we’ve always had an environmental conscience.”
Can you imagine watching your electric meter roll backward — legally?
Jeanne and John McDowell know that delight, thanks to the solar panels they installed on their home’s roof last fall. The 18 panels on the back of their home generate more power than the couple consumes and the excess is sold back to Alliant Energy.
“We generate far more than we are using,” Jeanne McDowell said. “The money we earn pays for our electricity, fees, charges and taxes, and some of our gas usage. This summer, we have earned a two-month credit and will apply that toward future bills.”
The McDowells are among three households and one business in Fond du Lac currently generating solar power, said Alliant Associate Product Manager in Renewables Tracy Vail. It’s a small but growing group, Vail said.
A bi-directional digital meter installed in the McDowells’ laundry room clocks the electricity produced, as well as the amount the McDowells use. An inverter mounted in the same location hooks into the main fuse box and changes the current from direct (DC) to alternating (AC) for use in the home.
Nearby, the McDowells keep a daily log of their energy creation. By mid-July, they had saved 55,000 pounds of CO2 and logged more than 3,300 kilowatt hours since the panels went live. For comparison, a watt is the gauge of how much energy an appliance burns in one hour, and a compact fluorescent bulb burns 12-14 watts in an hour.
“Eleven a.m. is the best time” for energy generation, John McDowell noted. “And a cool, sunny day creates more electricity than a hot, sunny day when the UV is blocked.”
Environmental conservatives
Their life experiences and current living situation influenced the McDowells’ decision to install the solar panels. Together, the couple has lived and worked abroad as teachers for a number of years in Germany and Japan, where solar panels may be compulsory in all new construction by 2030, according to a May report in the Nikkei business daily.
“We’ve lived in countries where energy is more expensive,” Jeanne noted. “And, we’ve always had an environmental conscience.”
Monday, August 1, 2011
UW-Oshkosh professor wins bad fiction prize
A little humor from UPI.com:
SAN JOSE, Calif., July 26 (UPI) -- San Jose State University in California announced a Wisconsin woman won the 2011 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest with an intentionally poorly written sentence.
The university said Sue Fondrie, an associate professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, won the 29th annual competition, which calls upon participants to compose the worst possible opening sentence for an imaginary novel.
"Cheryl's mind turned like the vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell onto a growing pile of forgotten memories," Fondrie's entry read.
The university said Fondrie's sentence was the shortest grand prize winner in the history of the contest.
The Bulwer-Lytton prize is named for Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, who began his novel "Paul Clifford" with the famous opening sentence, "It was a dark and stormy night."
SAN JOSE, Calif., July 26 (UPI) -- San Jose State University in California announced a Wisconsin woman won the 2011 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest with an intentionally poorly written sentence.
The university said Sue Fondrie, an associate professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, won the 29th annual competition, which calls upon participants to compose the worst possible opening sentence for an imaginary novel.
"Cheryl's mind turned like the vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell onto a growing pile of forgotten memories," Fondrie's entry read.
The university said Fondrie's sentence was the shortest grand prize winner in the history of the contest.
The Bulwer-Lytton prize is named for Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, who began his novel "Paul Clifford" with the famous opening sentence, "It was a dark and stormy night."
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