Wind Powering America
Colorado's Wind for Schools Project Receives Wirth Chair Award: A Wind Powering America Success Story
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Date: 5/8/2012
On April 25, Colorado's Wind for Schools project was honored with a Wirth Chair Award for its work in integrating wind energy into classrooms throughout the state.
The award from the Wirth Chair in Sustainable Development at the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver honors environmental and sustainable development achievements across Colorado. Alice Madden, Wirth Chair in Sustainable and Community Development, believes that this year's awards highlight a diverse group dedicated to the advancement of a sustainable future.
"In keeping with this year's theme, I was looking for people who are doing work in education. Obviously, Wind for Schools does that at both the K-12 level and in higher education," Madden said.
According to Colorado Wind Application Center Director Mike Kostrzewa, the award represents not only the program's 2012 accomplishments but also the many accomplishments since its inception. Kostrzewa estimates that the Colorado Wind for Schools project has reached in excess of 3,000 K-12 students and has also provided hands-on experience to more than 50 higher-education students who have helped design and install projects.
"This is recognition of the work we've done for the past 4 years, and it comes at a good time for us because our funding has really dropped off," Kostrzewa said. "Our 4-year contract with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is coming to a close, so this award comes at a time when we're trying to raise private funds to keep the program going. This kind of award should help publicize the work that we do, how important we think it is, and hopefully we'll get the chance to raise more funding to keep it going."
Since 2009, the Colorado Wind Application Center at Colorado State University and the Colorado Governor's Energy Office selected nine rural schools to participate in the Wind for Schools project: Arriba-Flagler Consolidated School District High School in Flagler, Burlington High School in Burlington, Kit Carson High School in Kit Carson, Stratton High School in Stratton, Walsh High School in Walsh, and Wellington Middle School in Wellington, Ponderosa High School in Parker, Nederland Middle/Senior High School in Nederland, and Park County RE-2 School District in Fairplay.
Colorado Wind for Schools State Facilitator Tom Potter said that the award represents the work of many, including Mona Newton, formerly of the Governor's Energy Office, and Colorado Representative Andy Kerr, who was key in initiating the legislation that provided state support for Wind for Schools in Colorado.
"The award brings to the attention of many the fact that this is a true success story for the legislature and their intent to educate and train Colorado kids in renewable technologies," Potter said.
The Wirth Chair is named for former U.S. Senator and Undersecretary of State Timothy E. Wirth. This year marks the 13th anniversary of the award and celebrates the "Creators of a Sustainable Future." Other recipients were the Colorado Foundation for Water Education, Veterans Green Jobs, the Denver Sustainability Park, the Colorado Alliance of Environmental Education, and the late David Getches, former dean of the University of Colorado School of Law.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Powering America initiative, based at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, helped to launch the Wind for Schools project in 11 states (Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Alaska, Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) to address workforce development needs and public resistance to wind energy deployment. The general approach of the Wind for Schools project is to install small wind turbines at rural elementary and secondary host schools while developing Wind Application Centers at higher education institutions. Teacher training and hands-on curricula are implemented at each host school to bring the wind turbine into the classroom through interactive and interschool wind-related research tasks. The students at the Wind Application Centers act as wind energy consultants. They assist in the assessment, design, and installation of the small wind systems at the host schools, which prepares them to enter the wind workforce once they graduate. More information about the Wind for Schools project is available at the Wind Powering America website.
Preliminary Analysis of the Jobs and Economic Impacts of Renewable Energy Projects Supported by the Section 1603 Treasury Grant Program
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Date: 4/30/2012
This analysis responds to a request from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to estimate the direct and indirect jobs and economic impacts of projects supported by the §1603 Treasury grant program. The analysis employs NREL's Jobs and Economic Development Impacts (JEDI) models to estimate the gross jobs, earnings, and economic output supported by the construction and operation of the large wind (greater than 1 megawatt) and solar PV projects funded by the §1603 grant program.
Do Your Part in Securing a Sustainable Renewable Energy Future for America
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Date: 5/1/2012
Source: Seanica Reineke, National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.
Audio with Larry Flowers, American Wind Energy Association deputy director for distributed and community wind (MP3 3.1 MB) Download Windows Media Player. Time: 00:03:19.
With Farm Bill discussions continuing, the Renewable Energy for America Program still faces uncertainty. American Wind Energy Association deputy director for distributed and community wind Larry Flowers says REAP made it into 2012—though at a much reduced level—due to work by the program's stakeholders.
Flowers says the program gives agricultural producers and rural businesses incentives to invest in renewable energy. REAP provides a 25-percent maximum grant and an equal amount of potential loan guarantees. Flowers says that makes if affordable for rural communities.
"As far as the wind industry goes, this allowed the small wind industry and the community wind industry to engage rural America, which has enormous wind potential, has a need for economic development and is interested in some self-reliance. And so it really did put together incentive packages that made a good match between small and community wind and rural America."
There are many applications for wind energy in rural America, Flowers says, including for irrigation, dairy processing, animal confinement operations, and energy around the farm. He says REAP provides farming operations incentives to reduce energy costs that have been growing over the years while also guarding against the fluctuation of energy.
"As some of the older coal plants get retired, the newer generation that comes on, whether it be coal or natural gas or renewable energy, is more expensive than these old, retired coal plants. Energy prices are going up and with fossil fuel, of course, they're variable, they're renewable energy, they're predictable because the fuel is free."
Flowers says it's important to engage the full spectrum of options for wind energy and renewable energy in the rural sector. The large wind farms provide great economic development to rural America and are important for rural America's future, Flowers says, but the smaller community wind projects also need to play a role with independence, security, economic development, and environmental benefits.
One of the important changes to REAP, Flowers says, is that it now applies to educational facilities. He says education is critical for a robust and sustainable renewable energy future. Wind for Schools is a program that goes along with this renewable energy education.
"We train teachers and we provide the kids with curriculums so they can see these options as they move into the workforce. It also, hopefully, interests them in the opportunity that renewable energy, and wind in particular, offers these folks as they go from high school either into the trade or right into the workforce in construction right out of high school or on to college. There's a whole broad array of wind occupations that are out there, and by putting small wind turbines at rural schools through the REAP program and introducing curriculum, we can excite the next generation about a robust wind future and their role in it."
Policy is another point of importance, Flowers says, because it determines what will happen. He says it all comes back to renewable energy stakeholders—including those in the wind industry and rural America—letting their lawmakers know REAP is an important piece of America's energy future. People can't just think someone else will speak up, Flowers says, but everyone has to do their part in securing a prosperous energy future.
Distributed Wind Case Study: Cross Island Farms, Wellesley Island, New York
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Date: 4/24/2012
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory published Distributed Wind Case Study: Cross Island Farms, Wellesley Island, New York. Installing a small wind turbine can sometimes be challenging due to economics, zoning issues, public perception, and other barriers. Persistence and innovation, however, can result in a successful installation. Dani Baker and David Belding own Cross Island Farms, a 102-acre certified organic farm on Wellesley Island in northern New York. In 2009, they took their interest in renewable energy to the next level by researching the logistics of a small wind installation on their land to make their farm even more sustainable. Their renewable energy system consists of one 10-kilowatt Bergey Excel wind turbine, a solar array, and a propane-powered generator. This case study describes funding for the project and the installation process.
Recent Developments in the Levelized Cost of Energy from U.S. Wind Power Projects
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Date: 2/1/2012
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) published Recent Developments in the Levelized Cost of Energy from U.S. Wind Power Projects, a briefing presentation that summarizes recent work on wind energy costs. Portions of this work were also presented in a multi-part webinar in December 2011. The LBNL-NREL work analyzes wind energy costs in three time periods: projects installed in 2002-2003, projects installed in 2009-2010, and projects based on current wind turbine pricing to be installed in ~2012-2013. The research shows that wind energy technology was far from static during this period, and the levelized cost of wind energy is now trending toward an all-time low within fixed wind resource areas. If you have questions, contact Ryan Wiser at LBNL or Eric Lantz at NREL. The U.S. Department of Energy's Wind and Water Power Program supported this work.
Nebraska Utilizes a Supplemental Environmental Program to Fund Wind for Schools Turbines: A Wind Powering America Success Story
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Date: 4/10/2012
The Nebraska Wind for Schools project team has 24 turbine installations in various stages of development. Twelve of these installations were funded through grant funds from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality's Supplemental Environmental Program (SEP). The SEP was designed as a mechanism to provide entities that fail to comply with environmental laws with an alternative to paying fines for noncompliance. Instead of paying the entire fine amount, the entity can choose to fund environmentally friendly projects. The Nebraska Attorney General's Office enforces the program.
As a result of a collaborative effort between the Nebraska Wind for Schools team and the Nebraska Attorney General's Office, the team secured $185,162 in grant awards to fund turbine installations in the state.
According to Nebraska Wind for Schools facilitator Dan McGuire, "It's a tremendous boost to our Wind for Schools program."
The good news is that this financing method is accessible to any school interested in installing a school turbine, either through other similar state-based SEP programs or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA's) SEP.
McGuire said that the Nebraska SEP provides funding that allows the Wind for Schools initiative to achieve its goal of bringing wind energy to the classroom, and the turbine installations complement the SEP's goals.
"The program addresses pollution violations and negative environmental impacts," McGuire said. "Given that wind energy and renewable energy are such positives for the environment, combining them with the mission of the SEP funds seems to be a logical fit."
According to McGuire, the Nebraska team began the process of obtaining state SEP funds in 2010 after the group had already installed multiple turbines. These successful school wind projects attracted interest from government agencies, including the Nebraska Attorney General's Office. After an initial discussion about utilizing Nebraska SEP funds for future installations, the Wind for Schools team provided the names of interested schools to the Attorney General's Office. Each school was required to submit an application, and the Nebraska Wind for Schools team provided guidance to the schools during this period.
"The funding became available when other sources were not available or easy to obtain, and they could be processed a little quicker than other funding sources," McGuire said.
Larry Flowers, deputy director of distributed and community wind at the American Wind Energy Association, believes that although the EPA's SEP funds can be utilized for Wind for Schools projects across the country, some challenges must be overcome to access the funds.
"The challenge is three-fold," Flowers said. "The first is actually meeting with the state enforcement teams to talk about the opportunity of applying SEP funds to Wind for Schools projects. The second challenge is that some states apply a stricter interpretation of the rules. All states have a desire to use SEP funds in the impacted area, but each state has a certain amount of flexibility in how to apply these rules. The third challenge is the financial status of individual states. In some states there is a strong desire to put the fines into the state treasury rather than applying them to SEP awards. Again, that will vary from state to state and year to year."
An additional variable that Flowers believes must be considered is the number of violations within a given state. A state with significant industrial and manufacturing activities may have access to greater SEP funds.
The Idaho and Colorado Wind for Schools teams used SEP funding to support wind project development, which indicates that this funding option could be used more widely. Flowers said that representatives in states interested in Wind for Schools projects should contact their respective SEP program coordinators and environmental attorneys to open the dialogue and pursue this application.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Powering America initiative provides funding and guidance for the Wind for Schools project, which works to raise awareness in rural America about the benefits of wind energy while increasing the wind knowledge base of future leaders of our communities, states, and nation. The project is currently supported in 11 states (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Virginia). More information about the Wind for Schools project and SEP funding is available.
Colorado's Wind for Schools Project Honored with a Wirth Chair Award
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Date: 4/3/2012
Colorado's Wind for Schools project will be honored with a Wirth Chair Award on April 25 for its work in integrating wind energy into classrooms throughout the state.
Since 2009, the Colorado Wind Application Center at Colorado State University and the Colorado Governor's Energy Office have selected nine rural schools to participate in the Wind for Schools project: Arriba-Flagler Consolidated School District High School in Flagler, Burlington High School in Burlington, Kit Carson High School in Kit Carson, Stratton High School in Stratton, Walsh High School in Walsh, and Wellington Middle School in Wellington, Ponderosa High School in Parker, Nederland Middle/Senior High School in Nederland, and Park County RE-2 School District in Fairplay.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Powering America initiative, based at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, has helped to launch the Wind for Schools project in 11 states (Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Alaska, Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) to address workforce development needs and public resistance to wind energy deployment.
This year marks the 13th anniversary of the Wirth Chair Awards and will celebrate the "Creators of a Sustainable Future." Recipients include The Colorado Foundation for Water Education, Veterans Green Jobs, the Denver Sustainability Park, the Colorado Alliance of Environmental Education, and the late David Getches, former dean of the University of Colorado School of Law.
The Wirth Chair in Sustainable Development at the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver is named for former U.S. Senator and Undersecretary of State Timothy E. Wirth and honors environmental and sustainable development achievements across Colorado.
Get more information about the Wind for Schools project.
Energy Department Honors Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative with 2011 Wind Cooperative of the Year Award
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Date: 3/9/2012
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized the Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative yesterday with the 2011 Wind Cooperative of the Year Award. The Energy Department and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) presented the award at the TechAdvantage 2012 conference on Thursday afternoon in San Diego, Calif.
This eleventh annual award honors the Iowa-based utility for its installation of a 21-megawatt wind energy project in only 18 months, making the Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative the first electric distribution cooperative to design, finance and complete a wind energy project of this size over such a short period. The project took an innovative approach using existing substation infrastructure, which allowed the cooperative to avoid building an expensive transmission-level connection to the electrical grid and saved approximately $5 million.
The Wind Cooperative of the Year Award, created by NRECA and DOE's Wind Powering America outreach and education initiative, recognizes electric cooperatives that demonstrate outstanding leadership in advancing wind power in the United States. The criteria used to judge the nominees include corporate leadership, creative marketing approaches, project innovation, and benefits to customers. A panel of experts from the wind industry, government, DOE's national laboratories, and electric cooperatives selected Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative for the award from a field of 12 NRECA-member electric cooperatives nominated from across the country. More information is available on DOE's Wind Powering America website.
The Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates development and facilitates deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality. Learn more about DOE's efforts to research, test, develop, and deploy innovative wind energy technologies.
Impact of Wind Power Projects on Residential Property Values: A NEWEEP Webinar
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Date: 5/5/2010
Location: MA
The New England Wind Energy Education Project (NEWEEP) hosted the first in a series of free webinars. The main topic of NEWEEP's inaugural event was, "The Impact of Wind Power Projects on Residential Property Values" presented by Ben Hoen, consultant to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories. The session opened with a brief introduction of the New England Wind Energy Education Project, followed by an introductory discussion of, "Wind Power's role in Achieving Regional Policy Objectives" presented by Heather Hunt, executive director of New England States Committee on Electricity. The webinar included a question and answer session. This was a free webinar funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Wind Powering America Initiative. The webinar was designed for attendance by the general public, local officials, facility siting decision makers, policy makers, and others interested in a review of objective information on the impacts of wind energy.
- Audio and text versions of the webinar are available (WMV 76.2 MB) Download Windows Media Player. Time: 02:02:03. Text Version.
- Ben Hoen's presentation (PDF 1.7 MB)
- Heather Hunt's presentation (PDF 1.1 MB)
- Bob Grace's presentation (PDF 2.3 MB)
- Annotated Bibliography (PDF 134 KB)
Receive Notices for Future Webinars in the Series
If you would like to be on the NEWEEP mailing list to be notified of future NEWEEP webinars via email, please provide us with your contact information. Subscribers will also receive periodic email announcements about newly posted information on the New England Wind Forum website and new editions of the New England Wind Forum newsletter. The addresses and information of those signing up will not be distributed to anyone else for any other purpose. Past NEWEEP webinar audio visual files and transcripts are available.
Estimating Small Wind Turbine Energy Output and Economic Performance: An ASES Small Wind Division Webinar
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Date: 11/4/2010
The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) Small Wind Division bi-monthly Webinar series continued with a presentation titled, "Managing Expectations: Estimating Small Wind Turbine Energy Output and Economic Performance." The Webinar was presented by Tony Jimenez from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. This presentation taught methods for estimating wind turbine energy production and economic performance. The presentation started with an overview of wind characteristics and energy potential before describing the techniques used to evaluate wind turbine energy production and economic performance. Publically available sources of wind data were also discussed.
Audio and text versions of the Webinar are available (WMV 12.9 MB) Download Windows Media Player. Time: 01:03:47. Text Version.
World Renewable Energy Forum 2012
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Date: 5/13/2012 to 5/17/2012
Location: Denver, CO
Source: American Solar Energy Society
This will be the first time that the American Solar Energy Society annual conference and the bi-annual World Renewable Energy Congress have been combined.
The theme of the 2012 conference is "EmPowering the World with Renewable Energy." The conference will not only look at how renewable energy technologies can address the environmental and energy crisis from an international perspective but also what it will take to integrate renewables into the world's energy infrastructure on a very large scale. To accomplish this energy transition, we not only need to power our electric grids with renewable energy, but we also need to empower people to play active roles in our energy transition, especially in developing nations. Plenary speakers and special forum presentations will focus on these critical topics.
Tours of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory main campus and the National Wind Technology Center will be available. Wind presentations will include:
- Loads Application for Wind Turbine Composite Blade Design
- The Past and Future Cost of Wind Energy
- Distributed Wind around The World
- Enhancing The Reliability of Wind Turbines through Online Multi-Sensor Condition Monitoring.
Small Wind Overview and Site Assessor Training
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Date: 5/14/2012 to 5/18/2012
Location: Portland, OR
This training will provide an introduction to the basics of effectively planning and siting a small wind turbine for customers. Mick Sagrillo, a nationally-recognized wind expert from Wisconsin with nearly 30 years of industry experience, will conduct the week-long training, assisted by Jon Roschke, former executive director of the Oregon Small Wind Energy Association. Energy Trust of Oregon, Northwest Environmental Business Association, NEBC, and Oregon Small Wind Energy Association are hosting the training.
Renewable Energy Projects in Indian Country Conference
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Date: 5/21/2012 to 5/22/2012
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
At the fifth annual Renewable Energy Projects in Indian Country Conference, tribal leaders and professionals will discuss the significant opportunities for energy development in Indian Country, as well as the barriers that tribes must overcome to bring energy projects to fruition. Discussions will include increasing access to private capital, feasibility studies, and how tribes can create sustainable and environmentally responsible economies for the future generations of Indian Country.