Farmers Blog Posts
Bringing you news about clean energy projects and opportunities happening across the state. Tell your story.
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Dan Thiede
Tue, 05/15/2012 - 9:24am
CERTs is pleased to announce that next Monday, May 21st we will open a request for proposals (RFP) for technical assistance to catalyze community energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. So stay tuned for that announcement, or sign up for email updates so that you don’t miss it.
Each region has $10,000 to award. Each team’s Steering Committee will make its own selections and project funding levels will vary by region. Projects can apply for up to the full $10,000 in their region, but historically regions have funded multiple projects in each region. See more information below about previously funded projects.
We awarded grants in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2012. The amount varies depending on the year and the project.
All projects
This map includes all projects ever funded by CERTs, color-coded by the year the award was...
Dan Thiede
Tue, 05/15/2012 - 8:04am
Before your calendar starts filling up for February 2013, we want to make sure you mark off February 20-21, 2013 (a Wednesday and Thursday) so that you can join us for the fifth biennial Clean Energy Resource Teams statewide conference!
What can you expect? We can’t tell you exactly what the agenda will look like, but we do know that the event will be an exploration and celebration of successful energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, and that it will be a coming together of hundreds of amazing people who are working to create a clean energy future in their communities and beyond. After the conference you will return home and to work with tangible and practical information for planning projects, as well as great connections to help you move forward and continue collaborating....
Susan Waughtal
Wed, 05/02/2012 - 1:23pm
Dairy farmer Nathan Gibbs is in a sunny frame of mind. He just installed a 39,840 watt PV solar system on the south-facing roof of his cow shed, which will supply 30% of the farm’s electricity needs annually.
Gibbs milks 100 Holsteins on his dairy farm in southeast Minnesota near Altura. He has been farming for 10 years, but this year, with a 30% federal tax rebate, accelerated depreciation, and a rebate incentive from Xcel Energy, the time and financing was right to invest in renewable energy.
Winona Renewable Energy installed the 166 panels on the cow shed during February and March 2012, a winter in which the weather cooperated with construction work. The system is tied to the grid and provides power to both the home and farm buildings. Each of the 166 modules has its own Enphase micro-...
Chris May
Wed, 05/02/2012 - 12:19pm
On May 15 (only two weeks away!) the Renewable Materials Summit: Markets for Building the Biorefinery will take place in Fargo, North Dakota. The event will highlight and explore the companies and markets that are driving opportunities for returns on investment that leverage the emerging bioeconomy.
We spoke with Tim Welle, Program Manager with The BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, to learn a little bit more. You can click here to register for the event or learn more.
Joel Haskard: What can people expect to learn at the Renewable Materials Summit?
Tim Welle: Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the emerging biobased economy. The world is changing for manufacturers and original equiptment manufacturers (OEMs) as petroleum prices increase and consumer demand shifts toward safer materials. Local...
Shaun Daniel
Thu, 04/26/2012 - 1:16pm
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. Tiffany, “dairy farmers used 376 million kWh of electricity, or 600 kWh per year for a typical cow producing 15,000 pounds of milk annually.” For dairy farmers, electricity is the single biggest energy cost.
The Minnesota Project, a key CERTs partner, highlights ways that farmers can save energy by becoming more energy efficient, and thus save money. As such, I’d like to draw your attention to a number of new resources on The Minnesota Project’s website....
Angela Headlee
Wed, 04/04/2012 - 4:02pm
Over 80 people were enlightened at a solar workshop in St. Cloud this past Wednesday. Central, Metro, and West Central Clean Energy Resource Team (CERT) Regions converged at the Riverside Park Pavilion to host a tri-region resource event that provided a plethora of information about solar photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies. All of the presentations and photos from the event can be found at the bottom of this post.
Getting Started: The event started with a brief introduction by CERT Regional Coordinators Diana McKeown (Metro), Jeff Vetsch (West Central) and Angela Headlee (Central), but there was no dilly-dallying around, so we jumped right into a fantastic presentation by our keynote speaker, Eric Buchanan with the West Central Research and Outreach Center at the University of Minnesota. Mr. Buchanan provided very thorough information...
Michelle Vigen
Mon, 03/26/2012 - 8:41am
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. How hard can that be? Pretty hard, it turns out.
“I’m balancing the expense versus the efficiency of the bulb,” the 51-year-old Bloomington resident said after spending long minutes scrutinizing an array of incandescents, compact flurorescents and LED bulbs ranging in price from $2.50 to $20 at Lowe’s in West St. Paul. “I would prefer more energy efficiency, but is it worth paying such an expensive price for...
Joel Haskard
Thu, 03/22/2012 - 2:50pm
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.
The mission of Heating the Midwest is to advance biomass thermal heating in the Midwest for a more sustainable future, while improving the economic, environmental and social well-being of the region. Driven and directed by a steering committee, Heating the Midwest includes industry, government, non-profit organizations, university representatives and tribal representatives.
Attendees will gain valuable information on the following topics:
Biomass resource availability and processing
Thermal heating policy
Innovative and efficient combustion technologies
Biomass...
Robert Moffitt
Wed, 03/21/2012 - 3:39pm
Among the shiny new cars and trucks on display at the recent 2012 Twin Cities Auto Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center was a new exhibit, the Biodiesel Green Room.
Sponsored by the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council and staffed by Minnesota soybean farmers, MEG Corp and the American Lung Association in Minnesota’s Clean Air Choice program, the Biodiesel Green Room featured 16 “green vehicles” from various automakers, including two clean diesel vehicles.
Auto Show attendees learned more about Minnesota’s first-in-the-nation biodiesel requirement, how B5 biodiesel is helping to clean our air (the emissions equivalent of removing 55,000 vehicles from MN roads every year), and how much cleaner today’s diesel engines and fuels are, compared to those used in the past. You can watch a story on the Biodiesel Green...
Jenna Lewein
Tue, 03/20/2012 - 12:20pm
Many places in Minnesota have found a way to extend the warm growing season into the colder winter months. This isn’t that surprising, greenhouses have been around, by some accounts, since the time of the Roman Emperors, and their objective remains the same: providing fresh, local produce for people to enjoy at any time of the year.
Originally constructed to serve the wealthy and powerful, today, anyone with the proper space and tools can construct a greenhouse. Through several greenhouse projects the Clean Energy Resource Teams have had the pleasure of working with people passionate about incorporating energy efficiency and renewable energy into their operations, ranging from local commercial endeavors to school projects. Below are introductions and links to several case studies for greenhouse projects found in...
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