News

Direct energy use accounts for between 5 and 7 percent of farm expenditures. In terms of electricity used, Minnesota dairies show the largest energy costs, followed by corn growers (for grain drying especially), swine, soybeans, and other agricultural crops.

According to Barry Ryan and Douglas G.

Sharing and Caring Hands has been serving the needs of the poor in Minneapolis since 1985.

The Building Owners and Managers Associations of Greater Minneapolis and Greater St. Paul today joined Xcel Energy in announcing the winners of the first annual Kilowatt Crackdown, a new energy conservation initiative. The year-long contest challenged Twin Cities area building owners to improve their buildings’ efficiency.

Minnesota is in the midst of a transition to sustainable, clean energies for the 21st century. One of those energy sources is hidden underground. That’s right—there are abundant geothermal resources below our state’s lovely surface. This is the conclusion of a report recently published by the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.

Michaels Energy is an energy efficiency consulting company looking to partner with Minnesota convenience stores and utilities in a unique opportunity to save energy and money. We spoke with Ralph Dickinson to learn more.

Joel Haskard: Tell us a little bit about this project.

There has been a lot of attention recently focusing on electric vehicles (EVs) like the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf (see recent blog posts here and here), but what about other modes of electrified transportation? We caught up with Melissa Wenzel to hear about her experiences with electric bikes and scooters.

Joel Haskard: You own both an electric bike and an electric scooter.

With a very large energy usage footprint the White Earth Nation tribal government is becoming more involved in implementing energy conservation measures and adopting renewable energy technologies. The tribal nation encompasses all of Mahnomen County and two northern tiers of townships in northern Becker and several townships western Clearwater counties, totaling more than 937,400 acres.

CERTs thought it would be fun to shine a spotlight on the inspiring projects that some of Minnesota’s residential environmental learning centers have been implementing. These extraordinary places provide fun, formative experiences for people of all ages and foster a connection to the natural environment.

What is a Solar Boat Regatta, you ask? At the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society (MRES) Solar Boat Regatta teams demonstrate knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to design and build boats powered by the sun.

In 2003, an entrepreneur named Randy Hagen developed, manufactured, and sold a solar-powered ventilating system for aircraft. Out of this early endeavor sprang Solar Skies Manufacturing LLC, which today produces a full line of solar thermal collectors, tanks, and mounting systems to address the needs of consumers who wish to reduce energy costs and produce their own solar-powered hot water.

After meeting David and Anne Florenzano at a CERTs event at the Silicon Energy solar manufacturing plant in Mountain Iron, I caught up with David recently to ask him more about their project and how they decided to go solar.

A new application from Opower, Facebook, and NRDC lets users manage home energy consumption on a Facebook dashboard, comparing their usage with friends, with the end goal being to save energy.

Opower, Facebook, and the Natural Resources Defense Council joined with 16 utilities to launch the social energy app, with an initial reach of 20 million households.

Original West Central Tribune article by Tom Cherveny.

The Minnesota Valley Alfalfa Producers are striving to concoct the right recipe for rural economic development and energy independence. Their test kitchen is the small Renville County community of Franklin, population 475.

I recently got the chance to chat with Christopher Loch, owner of CONTEMPL8 T-Shirts, a 100% wind-powered screen printing operation in south Minneapolis, where they’re also doing everything they can to save energy.

There are a lot of considerations these days when buying a new light bulb, all captured in a recent article from Leslie Brooks Suzukamo at the Pioneer Press that features the CERTs Right Light Guide. Keep reading for a preview, or click here for the full article.

Excerpt: Brian James needed a light bulb. Just one little bulb to replace a 40-watt light that burned out in his stairwell.

April 25-27, hundreds of people will be gathering in Eau Claire, Wisconsin for the first annual Heating the Midwest with Renewable Biomass Conference & Expo, which will provide a unique opportunity to build momentum for biomass heating in the Midwest. CERTs is pleased to be part of the event as a co-sponsor.