The smokestack at the #4 unit of the Boswell Energy Center near Grand Rapids, Minnesota is seen in this December 2006 photo. (Photo by Than Tibbetts via Creative Commons) In January, northern Minnesota electric utility Minnesota Power announced a new direction forward for its generation portfolio. The company’s “Energy Forward” plan calls for adding wind [...]
An infrared scanner used in home energy audits. (Photo by Green Energy Futures via Creative Commons) A new report suggests that Wisconsin’s energy efficiency incentives are back on track following an administrative shake-up two years ago that brought major changes to the program. An independent evaluation released last week says Focus on Energy achieved greater [...]
A biomass power plant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. (Photo by PSNH via Creative Commons) After reporting last week on a Midwest biomass group’s proposal to boost wood-fueled heating in the region, reader John Gunn tweeted to tell us “forest biomass GHG emissions are much more complicated than your article indicates.” He’s right, so we thought [...]
(Photo via USDA) Wood fuel represents just a sliver of the Midwest’s heating market. By BTUs, solid biomass supplied 3 percent of the region’s heat in 2010, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The rest came primarily from non-renewable, fossil fuels — mostly natural gas. A biomass advocacy group called Heating the Midwest thinks [...]
Fog enshrouds the Oak Creek Power Plant in Wisconsin in this 2010 photo. (Photo by jonnyfixedgear via Creative Commons) A new report warns that Wisconsin’s economic competitiveness could be at risk if the state doesn’t diversify its electricity sources. The Badger State is already burdened by the second highest electricity prices in the Midwest, with [...]
(Photo by archerwl via Creative Commons) After 18 months of courtship and competition, Iowa officials announced Tuesday that Facebook has selected a Des Moines suburb as the site for its next data center. The social media giant plans to break ground this summer in Altoona, Iowa, on a $300 million data center that could be [...]
(Photo by Vicki Watkins via Creative Commons) At precisely 6 a.m. each morning, Mike Langmo’s turkeys experience a perfect sunrise, regardless of the season or weather. The Central Minnesota turkey farmer installed dimmable, programmable LED lamps last year in one of his two finishing barns, allowing him to simulate natural light patterns indoors. There’s some [...]
Lighter power lines would require fewer transmission towers, which can make up half the cost of a new line. (Photo by Michael Kappel via Creative Commons) Alan Russell calls today’s transmission lines — clusters of steel wires surrounded by strands of aluminum — “a bundle of compromises.” The steel is heavy and doesn’t conduct electricity [...]
