Driving through rural Minnesota you are apt to see impressive displays of renewable energy: wind farms, solar arrays, and ethanol plants come to mind. Additional efforts to promote renewable energy and energy conservation have been popping up in rural Minnesota communities thanks to Youth Energy Summit (YES!) teams.
YES!, a program partnership between Southwest Initiative Foundation (SWIF) and Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center (PWELC), is a team-oriented youth program that uses hands-on, experiential learning and energy action projects to address energy opportunities and issues in rural Minnesota communities. This past school year half of the 32 YES! teams chose to work on projects directly related to renewable energy and energy conservation.
Several of these teams decided to pursue solar projects last school year. The Austin YES! students researched solar panels and are acquiring panels to be installed on their school roof. This research included talking with local experts about incentive programs, funding opportunities, installation, building permits and city regulations, and testing for the best place to install solar panels. The team also sold compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), donated by Austin Utilities, to raise money to install these solar panels. In addition, they went to the State Capitol with a community member to discuss how legislators are important to the energy efficiency and renewable energy fields.
Two other YES! teams, Lac qui Parle Valley and Litchfield, incorporated solar panels in their projects as well. The Lac qui Parley Valley YES! team utilized two solar panels that had been sitting unused at their school to power the greenhouse fans in their new 20’ by 40’ passive solar greenhouse. The Litchfield team received a $3,500 grant through the Clean Energy Resource Teams to install a stationary solar array at their high school with the hopes of generating 500-800 kWh/month. They also have a letter signed by their entire science department stating that they will work to integrate the solar panels and solar energy into their curriculum.
In addition to putting up a small-scale wind turbine that will save their school an estimated $530 a year in energy costs, the Westbrook-Walnut Grove YES! team pursued an energy-efficiency campaign. They partnered with the Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership to hold demonstrations on energy and water conservation strategies for over 950 community members in several communities in southwest Minnesota.
The Westbrook-Walnut Grove YES! team wasn’t the only team working on energy conservation-several other groups of YES! students implemented energy conservation projects this past school year. The Mankato West YES! team carried on their work from last year by installing a second energy-monitoring meter to allow them to measure the electrical consumption of their entire school in real-time. They used this technology to do an energy audit of the lighting in their school’s theatre which resulted in the school acquiring more energy-efficient lighting for the theatre. The Sleepy Eye YES! team also carried on energy conservation work from last year. After installing 800 CFLs in their community in 2012 (and saving an estimated 36,800 watts), this past spring the Sleepy Eye YES! team distributed educational fliers in those same apartment complexes to educate residents about how to properly dispose of their CFLs. In addition, at least 5 YES! teams hosted “Black Out Days” at their school where they turn off lights and other electronics for part or all of the day to promote energy conservation.
To learn more about what other YES! teams did last school year and what YES! teams are up during the 2013-2014 season, visit http://www.youthenergysummit.org.
