News

To meet the growing demand among Minnesota residents and businesses for solar energy systems, the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) has just updated an easy-to-use, interactive map of the known solar installers across Minnesota, with information compiled by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Office of Energy Security.

Wednesday, March 21, 2011, Minneapolis, MN – Food service businesses—mostly restaurants and grocery stores—use 2.5 times more energy than the average commercial business. Think about it: all the stoves, ovens, heat lamps, dish washers, refrigerators, and fryers turning out meal after meal. It makes sense that they are energy intensive.

MEEA, in partnership with US EPA, is pleased to announce Midwest Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (HPwES) calls—a series aimed at creating a dialogue to discuss issues relevant to whole-home programs in the Midwest. The target audience for these periodic calls will be staff from organizations that are currently running or considering HPwES or whole-home programs.

The Office of Energy Security is filling an Information Officer 2 position. If you are interested in applying for this position, click here to see the full posting and apply for the job. Overview: Provide professional communication services to the Department of Commerce (DOC), particularly in the Energy Division.

Minnesota farmers are leading the clean energy revolution in the agriculture world, according to a recent report from the USDA.

The On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey issued just last month puts Minnesota farms ahead of the pack when it comes to methane production as well as the number and capacity of small wind turbines.

On March 15th, 2011, District Energy St. Paul Inc. (St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.) completed the largest solar thermal project in the upper Midwest region of the United States, located on the roof of the Saint Paul RiverCentre convention center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Now, try not to be overwhelmed…

CERTs has just made available to the public all of the presentations and audio from the CERTs 2011 Clean Energy Convergence that took place on February 2-3 in St.

Join Metro Clean Energy Resource Team (CERT), Affiliates, Partners and Friends to celebrate our fourth year of connecting communities to resources, hear about our first round of seed grants to Twin Cities Metro communities, and learn about our new energy efficiency campaigns and other resources. The program will be followed by refreshments and lots of time for networking.

Three USDA programs are now accepting applications for a slate of new funding for biofuel production and use. Announced on March 14, as much as $573 million in funding will be available through loan guarantees, financial assistance and producer payments.

This post is from the Energy $ense blog by Energy Smart.

The Center for Energy & Environment, a Minneapolis energy efficiency organization, is now offering no-interest loans to 501©3 nonprofit organizations across Minnesota looking to make energy improvements.

The funding for this program was made available through federal stimulus funding received by the Minnesota Office of Energy Security.

Region Nine Development Commission is working with Windustry, a national nonprofit focusing on community wind, to develop a Small Wind Bulk-Buy Program across nine counties—Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, Le Sueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca and Watonwan.

Minnesota may have another round or two of winter weather, but it is never too early to begin planning for spring gardening. The Recycling Association of Minnesota (RAM) is once again offering an easy solution to green up your backyard this spring by providing inexpensive rain barrels and compost bins for Minnesota residents at wholesale price.

CERTs is helping entrepreneurs in Minnesota learn, connect, and act! This 10-minute video, hosted by Northeast CERT Coordinator, Bill Mittlefehldt, allows members of the Minnesota business community that attended the CERTs 2011 Conference to tell stories about how they’re saving energy, making money, creating jobs, and improving their communities.

Hennepin County is looking for local faith-based communities to use a recently updated toolkit for congregations to educate and engage their members in environmental actions.

Thursday, March 3, 2011, Eveleth, MN – Nearly 50 people filled the room at Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) to learn about energy efficiency and renewable energy projects going on across the Range at an event co-hosted by Northeast Clean Energy Resource Team (NE CERT) and Iron Range Partnership for Sustainability. You can click here to see the full agenda.

March 1, 2011, Crookston, MN – Twenty people gathered for a “Meet ‘n Greet” tour of Dahlgren & Company, Inc., hosted by the Northwest Clean Energy Resource Teams (NW CERT) on February 24th. This “Meet ‘n Greet” was the first in a series of site visits hosted by NW CERT, to highlight energy efficiency and renewable energy efforts underway around the Northwest region.

Thursday, February 24, 2011, Detroit Lakes, MN – Over 40 people gathered at an event co-hosted by Central Region Clean Energy Resource Team (CERT) and the Becker, Clay, Otter Tail and Wilkin County Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) at Emmanuel Community center.

We need your help! The Minnesota GreenStep Cities program is holding review meetings seeking feedback on how to better serve Minnesota cities. We are looking for feedback on program structure, focusing on what is required of cities; as well as the functionality of specific best practice actions and resources.

We first met Adam Borut with the Milwaukee-based Eco Hatchery a year ago as he was introducing us to their eco kits; since then Eco Hatchery has come out with Light Bulb Finder, a free iPhone and Android app that makes it easier to find energy-saving light bulbs for your home.

We’re pleased to let you know about another job opportunity in the energy world, this time the Communication Specialist position with the Minnesota Rural Electric Association in Maple Grove, MN.

CERTs is excited to share this job opportunity as a Conservation Improvement Program Coordinator with Great River Energy! The successful candidate is responsible for managing GRE’s conservation and energy efficiency program development and reporting for residential, income eligible, commercial/industrial, and agri-business.

Updated publications offer valuable information on adopting and financing solar technologies across the United States

As part of the Department of Energy’s SunShot initiative to dramatically reduce the cost of installed solar energy by the end of the decade, DOE today introduced the second edition of Solar Powering Your Community: A Guide for Local Governments.

Joel Haskard, CERTs Co-Director with the University of Minnesota’s Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, took some time to interview Ken Paulman, the editor of a website that Joel has recently become addicted to, Midwest Energy News. Midwest Energy News, a project of Fresh Energy and RE-AMP, is a daily collection of the top energy stories of importance to the region.

Thanks to the folks at iSeek and the Minnesota Office of Energy Security, three new interactive training maps for Minnesota now provide site-specific information on energy-related training programs, apprenticeships, and industry-recognized certification training and testing. The maps are especially helpful to those seeking to prepare for an energy career.