The U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Program, through its Wind Powering America initiative, announced that Minnkota Power Cooperative has received the 2010 Wind Cooperative of the Year Award. The award was presented at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) TechAdvantage Conference in Orlando, Florida. This 10th annual award honors the North Dakota-based NRECA member for its outstanding leadership, innovation, project creativity and benefits to customers resulting from North Dakota's first utility-owned wind turbine and its other investments wind power. The cooperative was selected for the honor from a group of eight nominees nationwide. Read more...
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Another Keystone Delay
TransCanada Corp. reportedly has delayed work on the power infrastructure needed to support the Nebraska component of the company's proposed Keystone XL pipeline project. The work was to be done by the Nebraska Public Power District at a cost of nearly $50 million and included over 70 miles of transmission lines for three pumping stations along the pipeline's route in Nebraska. According to a report this weekend, the completion date for that project has been pushed back to October 2012 as TransCanada continues to await the federal government's approval of the pipeline. Read more...
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Minnesota Ethanol Plant Is Switching to Butanol
An Englewood, Colo. company named Gevo is converting an ethanol plant it purchased in Luverne, Minn. to make isobutanol, one of a number of new pathways to butanol, a chemical that can be used for fuel for many other purposes. Read more...
South Dakota Wind Farm Completed
North Dakota-based Basin Electric has announced that the last turbine of the $363-million Crow Lake Wind Project just east of Chamberlain, S.D., was commissioned Feb. 27 and the entire project is now fully operational. Read more...
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Modular Wind Tower Under Development
A Nebraska company is designing a wind tower that can be build in panel sections and transported on standard flatbed trucks. The company, NorthStar Wind of Blair, Neb., says their design will reduce the transport logistics of wind farm construction by up to 70%. Commercial production is expected to begin in 2012. Read more...
Monday, February 28, 2011
Iowa Legislature Considers Nuclear Energy Bill
The Iowa legislature is considering bills that would provide broad support for nuclear energy. The bills, recently introduced for study in the commerce subcommittees of the Iowa House and Senate, would allow regulated utilities in Iowa to begin charging customers for the cost of nuclear power facilities while they are under construction. Iowa's lone nuclear power plant near Palo is nearly 40 years old. Read more...
Saskatchewan Wind Project to Test Battery Storage
The Canadian government has selected two wind projects to receive funds from the ecoENERGY for Renewable Power program, a series of investments totaling up to C$63.8 million to support renewable and clean energy. The first project is a 99 MW wind farm in Nova Scotia that will receive up to C$9.2 million. The second is a wind storage demonstration project that will receive C$2.79 million to test battery storage technology connected to a wind turbine in Saskatchewan. Read more...
Thursday, February 24, 2011
On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Increases
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2011 – The number of solar panels, wind turbines and methane digesters on America's farms and ranches has increased significantly over the past decade and there are now 8,569 operations producing their own renewable energy, according to the results of the 2009 On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey released today. Conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service, this was the first-ever nationwide survey that looked at renewable energy practices on America's farms and ranches.
"These results indicate that farmers and ranchers are increasingly adopting renewable energy practices on their operations and reaping the important economic and environmental benefits," said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "At USDA we are committed to natural resource conservation, prosperity and energy independence in rural America. This survey gives us a benchmark against which we can measure our future successes."
According to the survey results, solar panels were the most prominent way to produce on-farm energy. In 2009, farmers on 7,968 operations nationwide reported using photovoltaic and thermal solar panels. The use of wind turbines was reported by farmers on 1,420 operations across 48 states. The use of methane digesters was reported by 121 operations in 29 states.
On the state level, California leads the nation with 1,956 operations producing renewable energy, accounting for nearly a quarter of all operations in the United States participating in this practice. Texas, Hawaii and Colorado were the other major states where farmers on at least 500 or more operations were producing their own renewable energy.
The survey results also show an economic upside to producing energy on the farm. Farmers in nearly every state reported savings on their utility bills. The savings were especially noticeable in New York, where utility bill savings reported by respondents topped $5,000 for 2009.
Conducted as a follow-on to the most recent Census of Agriculture, the 2009 On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey focused on three principal renewable energy systems: solar panels, wind turbines and methane digesters. The survey expanded upon the energy questions asked in the census to provide a deeper analysis of American on-farm renewable energy production practices.
Full results of the 2009 On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey are available online at www.agcensus.usda.gov.
Source: USDA
"These results indicate that farmers and ranchers are increasingly adopting renewable energy practices on their operations and reaping the important economic and environmental benefits," said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "At USDA we are committed to natural resource conservation, prosperity and energy independence in rural America. This survey gives us a benchmark against which we can measure our future successes."
According to the survey results, solar panels were the most prominent way to produce on-farm energy. In 2009, farmers on 7,968 operations nationwide reported using photovoltaic and thermal solar panels. The use of wind turbines was reported by farmers on 1,420 operations across 48 states. The use of methane digesters was reported by 121 operations in 29 states.
On the state level, California leads the nation with 1,956 operations producing renewable energy, accounting for nearly a quarter of all operations in the United States participating in this practice. Texas, Hawaii and Colorado were the other major states where farmers on at least 500 or more operations were producing their own renewable energy.
The survey results also show an economic upside to producing energy on the farm. Farmers in nearly every state reported savings on their utility bills. The savings were especially noticeable in New York, where utility bill savings reported by respondents topped $5,000 for 2009.
Conducted as a follow-on to the most recent Census of Agriculture, the 2009 On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey focused on three principal renewable energy systems: solar panels, wind turbines and methane digesters. The survey expanded upon the energy questions asked in the census to provide a deeper analysis of American on-farm renewable energy production practices.
Full results of the 2009 On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey are available online at www.agcensus.usda.gov.
Source: USDA
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Lugar Urges Keystone Approval
The latest support for the Keystone XL pipeline came yesterday from Sen. Richard Lugar, the leading Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Lugar said the pipeline is critical to U.S. energy security and urged the State Department to promptly approve the permit required for the project to proceed.
Meanwhile, the Natural Resources Defense Council has released a report highlighting what the group says are the safety risks relating to transporting oilsands crude through pipelines. TransCanada Corp., the Keystone XL project developer, stated the safety considerations relating to oilsands crude were no different than those for crude oil currently being distributed across the U.S. Read more...
Meanwhile, the Natural Resources Defense Council has released a report highlighting what the group says are the safety risks relating to transporting oilsands crude through pipelines. TransCanada Corp., the Keystone XL project developer, stated the safety considerations relating to oilsands crude were no different than those for crude oil currently being distributed across the U.S. Read more...
Nebraska Wind Farm Completed
Colorado-based Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. and Gestamp Wind North America, a subsidiary of Gestamp Renewables and Banco Santander, S.A. of Spain, have announced the completion of Flat Water Wind Project in southern Nebraska's Richardson County and Kansas' Nemaha County. Flat Water Wind Project is a 60 megawatt (MW) project consisting of 40 1.5 MW GE wind turbines. Read more...
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