News

The St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul is serving as the first stop for the new Metro CERT program Neighborhood Energy Service. This unique program starts with an energy efficiency workshop and is followed by an individual home visit including simple energy efficiency steps. Over the course of the fall, at least 100 households in the St.

Below are new stimulus developments from the Minnesota Office of Energy Secuirty. September News: A Progress Report on ARRA Funds is now available on our website. This report describes barriers to implementation and a status update on the pending programs. A residential energy efficiency rebate program called Project ReEnergize is set to launch on October 1.

Ely in the Balance tells how solar power was introduced to Ely with help from CERTs. The video features A Laundry Room, Inc, a full-service laundromat in Ely, MN that installed a solar thermal hot water system with grant funding from NE CERT and a whole lot of community support.

SEPTEMBER 8th, SAINT PAUL, MN — The Minnesota Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) seek to provide limited financial assistance for energy efficiency and/or renewable energy projects requiring technical assistance.

The Metro CERT region is excited to welcome two community organizers onto the team. In an effort to best spread resources and information, community organizers are essential to be on the ground, talking with neighbors and building community support. You’ll likely be seeing Julia or Carl at an upcoming event!

Julia Eagles is the new Metro CERT Community Organizer.

Two years can mean a lot of change in the clean energy world. In September of 2007, when I started my (first) internship with The Green Institute, Metro CERT was just getting off the ground. My job was to find out what was out there, both in terms of clean energy projects in the Twin Cities and similar project networks across the country.

Below are new stimulus developments from the Minnesota Office of Energy Secuirty. August News: Summaries of Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) applications from Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Louis Park and Carver, Ramsey and Wright Counties are now available on our website.

Are you an outgoing, detail-oriented individual interested in advancing clean energy solutions in Minnesota? Then we are looking for you. The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) are seeking a full-time Events Programming Coordinator to help further our mission to catalyze community-scale clean energy projects.

This webinar, offered by Minnesota Green Communities, will provide guidance on prioritizing cost-effective strategies for air sealing and insulation of single-family residencies. This is not to be missed if you’ve ever considered doing this kind of work on your home, but are working on a tight budget! Armand Magnelli will lead the webinar Thursday, August 27th from 2:00-3:00 p.m.

The Office of Energy Security is hosting this webinar to present the results of Phase II of the Dispersed Renewable Generation Transmission Study (DRG Study).

The Minnesota Project is pleased to release our newest report, Transportation Biofuels in the United States: An Update. Download the report >> These days you cannot turn around without hearing and reading about new developments in the biofuels sector—it can be nearly impossible to follow all of the news.

On August 27, 2009, join thousands around the U.S. for Power IT Down Day by powering down computers and peripherals before leaving the office or going to bed. We need your help in our commitment to save energy! On August 27, power down your computer, monitor, and printer at the end of the day.

Windustry is pleased to announce a four-part webinar series at no charge that will provide attendees with vital information regarding Community Wind and Community Energy project financing in the new policy environment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Constant learning is the key to Green building. Well, at least that is what I have been preaching. So what did I do several weeks ago? I went to learn from an assortment of individuals with diverse backgrounds who have a combined knowledge of hundreds of years. Readers of Remodeling Magazine are most likely familiar with the Remodeling Leadership Conference and the Big50 awards.

By Eric Bland, Discovery News, July 8, 2009 | Read full article >>

Urine-powered cars, homes and personal electronic devices could be available in six months with new technology developed by scientists from Ohio University.

Using a nickel-based electrode, the scientists can create large amounts of cheap hydrogen from urine that could be burned or used in fuel cells.

A total of 61 farmers and rural small businesses in Minnesota have been selected to receive almost $2.5 million in grants and loans to install renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvements. The funding is awarded through USDA Rural Development’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).

Have you or your community worked with CERTs? Perhaps you’re on one of our regional CERT Steering Committees, or you received seed grant funding for a project. Maybe you joined us at our biennial conference or a regional clean energy tour. You might also be a visitor to our website who found just what you were looking for. Whatever your story, we want to hear from you.

This limited, full-time job is open to all qualified seekers.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to interview Seth Fore, a masters student at the University of Minnesota Crookston who has been working with professor Paul Porter to study small-scale on-farm biofuel production. Their project is an innovative approach to farm-based energy sustainability that has been supported with both CERTs staff time and seed grant funding.

This permanent, full-time job is open to all qualified seekers. It offers the opportunity to work with a team of professionals in the dynamic field of energy facility permitting to minimize adverse human and environmental impacts of facilities while ensuring continuing electric power system reliability and integrity.

I recently attended a meeting hosted by the Minnesota Office of Energy Security on July 21st, 2009 that focused on ways that utilities can design energy conservation and efficiency programs to most positively change the behavior of residents.

Right now, there are 100 student teams in schools across Minnesota working to reduce their carbon footprint, and WE WANT YOU to be a mentor! More about the teams: The teams consist of students and a faculty “coach” as well as some administration and building operations support.

Congratulations to Minnesota Green Communities for another successful Green by Design Conference! The conference content was very strong, with a focus on technical training and green building and design applications this year.

The Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI), in conjunction with the Center for Producer Owned Energy, Aitkin County Land Development, and the Aitkin County Economic Development/Forest Industry Coordinator, is exploring the opportunity to utilize biomass resources available in Aitkin County to generate renewable energy.

Below are new stimulus developments from the Minnesota Office of Energy Secuirty. July News: A new publication called the Stimulus Funding Summary is now available on our website. This is a summary of stimulus-funded programs for homeowners, businesses and local governments.