News

Local governments and businesses are looking at options to make their operations more energy efficient. This Wednesday, leaders met at St. Cloud City Hall for the 2014 St. Cloud Area Green Forum.

The Minnesota Renewable Energy Society (MRES) is excited to announce the sites for 1st ever EcoMetro Sustainable Living Tour happening May 31st, 2014.

The EcoMetro tour will be highlighting eight very special sites that have worked hard to become beacons of sustainable living here in the Twin Cities Metro area. The tour features a diverse range of styles, from modest remodels to luxury living.

Solar panels, vegetation and buzzing bees could all appear on Southeast Como roofs this summer.

The Southeast Como Improvement Association received a $3,000 grant from Clean Energy Resource Teams, or CERTs, to survey all of the unused flat roof space in the neighborhood and Mid-City Industrial area and to gauge property owners’ interest in installing the three options on their roofs.

Finance upgrades in public buildings throughout your city utilizing the savings in wastewater treatment plant upgrades! This webinar recording will teach you the basics behind Minnesota’s Guaranteed Energy Savings Program (GESP). GESP is a state administered technical assistance program to finance upgrades in public buildings through energy performance contracting. More info at http://mncerts.

Let’s show some statewide support for the University of Minnesota Morris campus’ accomplishments in renewable energy and climate neutrality, eh?

The University of Minnesota, Morris is a finalist in the 2014 Second Nature Climate Leadership Awards, an annual competition among signatories of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).

The 3rd Annual Heating the Midwest Conference will be held from April 30th to May 1st, 2014 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Keynote speakers will include regional and national leaders in biomass energy.

CERTs Co-director, Joel Haskard, spoke with Science Instructor and Go Green Club Coach, Kate Schoonover, to learn more about the exciting endeavor the Go Green Club is currently undertaking. Students at Austin High School in Southeastern Minnesota are using crowd-funding to help them get solar on their school.

April 1, Loon Lake, MN – Over 40 people gathered at a Central Region Clean Energy Resource Team (CERT) event at John Smith’s farm outside of Loon Lake to see his latest invention and livestock—solar-powered pigs. Twice as cute and fast as normal-powered pigs, these sun-powered porkers are the latest technology to hit the Central MN Region.

Blue Earth County has demonstrated in two of its Mankato buildings that even energy efficient buildings can be tapped for additional energy savings. Lighting motion detectors for the Courthouse and Government Center were only the latest of a long and successful list of efforts by Blue Earth County to save energy in its buildings.

Applications for the Made in Minnesota Solar Thermal Rebate Program reopened on Monday, the Minnesota Department of Commerce has announced. The solar thermal program accepted applications this year from January 1-February 28, but the program was not fully subscribed. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until 2014 funds are fully reserved.

The Solar Powering Minnesota conference held March 7, 2014 at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul was a huge success.

A decision this week by Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission soon could change the way Minnesotans get credited for the solar energy they produce.

The commission voted 3-2 Wednesday to adopt a Minnesota Department of Commerce-developed method of calculating the value of solar energy.

Tesla Motors is building a SuperCharging network that enables long distance driving with an all-electric Tesla Model S. This week the project reached an important milestone-there are now enough stations in place to allow all-American road trips from coast to coast by using these stations to charge your car along the way.

The State of Minnesota B3 Energy Benchmarking program has been developed by the State of Minnesota Department of Administration and Department of Commerce to help State and local governments improve the energy performance of their buildings by tracking and managing facility energy consumption. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

The West Central Clean Energy Resource Team (WC CERT) and The Minnesota Project presented an educational program on how to pursue funding to support an LED lighting retrofit project on Thursday, March 13, 2014 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Life Center Auditorium of MinnWest Technology Campus in Willmar.

The Rural Energy for American Program (REAP) from USDA Rural Development is a funding opportunity for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs for farmers and rural small businesses. We recently held a webinar to walk participants through the 2014 USDA Rural Development REAP funding cycle and example project ideas.

Center for Energy and Environment in conjunction with partner Neighborhood Energy Connection, excitedly announced the publication of a report that outlines a new approach to incorporate the value of energy-efficiency in homes at time-of-sale. The program, called “Energy Fit Homes,” will be launching in April, in conjunction with the Neighborhood Energy Connection.

Nestled within the vast world of University of Minnesota student groups is a true gem: Innovative Engineers (IE). They’re busy working with people across the world to improve their communities and the quality of life. Current Vice President, Steven Maurer, an undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering, shares a few of their most inspiring recent stories in the interview below.

Light Installation Energizes Holland Neighborhood – Unveiling of public art project to visually represent neighborhood energy conservation efforts.

The Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) and Minneapolis Holland Neighborhood hosted an unveiling for the NE Green Light Project at Edison High School on Thursday, November 7 at 3:30pm.

As the 2013 Nonprofit Mission Award winner in Innovation, Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL) has transformed the way low-income families obtain heat resources in a way that creates self-reliance and independence. RREAL’s Solar Assistance program is a nationally unique strategy that brings an innovative and sustainable solution to the pervasive societal challenge of fuel poverty.

Solar panels from three different manufacturers — including two made in Minnesota – will battle it out on the roof of a downtown Duluth office building to see which can generate the most electricity in a Northland climate.

Minnesota consumed a total of 1,979 trillion Btus of energy in 2008. Of this, Minnesota industry consumed approximately 33% or 615 trillion Btus, including 30,000 gigawatt hours of electricity and 100 million MCF of natural gas to deliver products and services.

Fifteen research and development grant projects that will ultimately help Minnesota consumers and businesses save energy, cut energy bills, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions were announced recently by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources. The grants, totaling nearly $3.

Minnesota has a new statewide team for supporting high efficiency wood energy systems. The Minnesota Statewide Wood Energy Team includes diverse organizations and individuals with expertise to support effective use of wood energy technologies.