News

The term “wastewater” may become a misnomer—or at least the “waste” part. The City of Brainerd investigated the possibility of using its wastewater as a resource to produce energy for municipal buildings.

Summer has barely begun, but planning has been underway for months on the Home Energy exhibit at the 2013 Minnesota State Fair. For the second straight year, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources (DER) is sponsoring and coordinating the Home Energy exhibit, with expectations of making it bigger and better than last year.

Dr. David Schmidt of the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences is practicing what he preaches. The professor of the popular Renewable Energy and the Environment course has conducted his own study on phantom power in the home.

The 2013 session of the Minnesota Legislature passed an omnibus energy bill in May intended to significantly increase the generation of solar and other clean energy in Minnesota. From a solar mandate requiring public utilities to generate 1.

Golden Valley native, Rich Kronfeld has developed an electric-powered concept vehicle called Recumbent Automotive Human Transport, or Raht Racer for short. Kronfeld has no background in engineering, but had the vision and drive to create a new type of vehicle. Kronsfeld was interviewed by David Shaffer at the Star Tribune about his journey.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources has issued a formal invitation for potential contractors to submit White Papers concerning two topics in the State of Minnesota’s energy future.

The first topic to be addressed is microgrid development for energy assurance. Recommendations should address barriers and identify pathways to facilitate microgrid development.

Honeywell has announced that it will be launching a city-controlled thermostat system to be used in homes. When a city’s energy demand spikes, the municipalities will enable an energy-reducing strategy with an automated demand response (ADR) to the participating homes.

On June 5th, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) presented the regional 2012 President’s Environmental Youth Award to members of an environmental club at Mahtomedi High School for its Zephyr Wind Project.

Restaurants along University Avenue in Saint Paul are looking to lead their communities into energy efficiency thanks to a new program funded by the Corridors of Opportunity.

Duluth has seen a lot of changes over the last few years, some of them in energy conservation and efficiency. The Duluth Energy Efficiency Program (DEEP) focuses on getting home owners to go from just knowing about energy efficiency to acting in their own homes.

Story by Starrla Cray, Farm Horizons.

Heading into Lester Prairie from the north, one is likely to see Jerry Stibal’s new set of solar panels just off Babcock Avenue.

“Last year, with fuel prices so high, I decided it was time to do something different,” Stibal said.

Construction for the panels started the beginning of November, and they were ready to go about three weeks later.

Recently, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Sports Greening Project ranked the top 7 energy-efficient baseball stadiums in the MLB. Our hometown hero, the Minnesota Twins’ Target Field, came in second place with the Miami Marlins’ Marlins Park snatching the first place position.

The University of Minnesota is once again taking steps toward being more energy efficient. Within the U’s “It All Adds Up” campaign, the Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) has begun to make high-efficiency lighting changes. Starting in above ground locations, Northrop Auditorium Garage and Church Street Garage, PTS has been switching out fixtures to LED and adding sensors.

Do It Green! Minnesota is an all volunteer, non-profit organization with a mission to educate and motivate Minnesotans to live sustainably and to build healthy communities.

Some of Minnesota’s middle school students are getting involved with the clean energy movement! The Clean Air & Biodiesel Lesson & Poster Contest, Sponsored by the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, was administered by the American Lung Association recently across the state of Minnesota. The contest was open to all 5th and 6th grade classes.

On some level, everyone is connected to agriculture. That simple fact is at the heart of KSMQ’s local series, Farm Connections, now in its fifth season. Joel Haskard and Fritz Ebinger with the Clean Energy Resource Teams joined Farm Connections host Dan Hoffman and other guests to highlight energy efficiency innovations and opportunities on Minnesota farms.

The Billion Dollar Green Challenge is helping university campuses across the nation to become more energy and resource-efficient. The program works with universities to set aside money for a Green Revolving Fund. Student leaders from the university will then submit project proposals to help improve the campus in a green way.

Groundwater modeling is showing that Minnesota’s current water use cannot be sustained into the future. To discuss the issue and learn about solutions, staff from Minnesota cities came together on May 21, 2013 in Saint Paul to learn how cities are and can help residents and businesses to cut water use and costs and save money on new city wells.

I had a chance to chat with WoodMaster co-founder and President Chuck Gagner about their biomass boilers and furnaces, and the industry here in Minnesota.