CERTs Monthly Update - April 2008

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Central Region

 
The Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL) was featured on MPR April 30th. Yeah RREAL! Listen here.

Metro Region

 
The Metro CERTs Network Kick-Off: The kick-off was attended by over 200 people from elected officials to community members and everyone in between! Read Diana’s blog about the event >>

Dunwoody College of Technology Energy Auditor Training: Dunwoody has been awarded a contract by the MN Department of Commerce to provide residential energy auditor training and administer the opt-out competency exam. Training sessions for energy auditors will begin in September of 2008 with the exams being held later that year and January of 2009. For more information, you may contact Bruce at bruce.nelson@state.mn.us.

Northeast Region

 
Northeast CERT receives 22 proposals: NE CERT Outreach Coordinator, Bill Mittlefehldt, and CERT members managed to get 22 NE CERT proposals submitted of the nearly 80 state submissions. Bill served on the planning team for the first Twin Ports Interfaith Initiative on Global Warming. Forty people from 20 Faith teams took the time to learn together about how to reduce carbon emissions. Bill also met with Mayor Ness and Cliff Tanner of the City’s Office of Sustainability; they reviewed the positive teamwork emerging in the region and thought of ways to connect these dots of commitment and service. Bill partnered with Chuck Hartley, a certified Energy Manager for LHB Architects, with hopes to work with area business and industry leaders to shrink emissions and save money.

Stepping Up to Sustainability: 3rd Minnesota Conference on Sustainable Tourism was held April 15 at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC). Among the highlights were Dr. Okey Ukaga of the Northeast Minnesota Sustainable Development Partnership who served as both a presenter and planner for the event. Jamie Juenemann of the Silver Creek Institute was a featured presenter on solar applications in the region. Tim Nolan from MPCA explored the possibilities for an Eco-Industrial Park in our NE region. The conference was a success and demonstrated the growing interest in ‘eco-tourism.’ Click here to learn more about the event.

Northwest Region

 
Warren EDA Pursues Green Building Projects: The City of Warren, population 1,678, is the county seat for Marshall County in the northwestern corner of Minnesota. At a recent planning meeting, the Warren Economic Development Authority (WEDA) determined that building green homes and offering community education about sustainability is a step in the right direction for rebuilding a community hit by severe flooding in 1996 and 1997. The various benefits identified included: cost-effectiveness; energy conservation and keeping jobs in the local area; energy-efficient buildings that have low utility bills and are comfortable for residents; improvement of the local economy by working with local contractors and materials. Partnering with the Eco-Affordable Housing Program of Dovetail Partners, a non-profit organization based in Minneapolis and working throughout the region, WEDA is working on a handicapped group home, a new professional building, a possible green demonstration home and ways to influence new home construction. Thanks to Dovetail Partners for the story.

Southeast Region

 
The SE CERTs display got a workout this month, appearing at Earth Day events in Red Wing, Rochester, and Lanesboro. Outreach Coordinator Susan Waughtal also represented CERTS at a lecture series on Energy Efficiency for Businesses organized by the First National Bank in Plainview. Susan continues to work on RE-fest, a day-long celebration of Clean Energy and Green Living to be held in Austin on September 20th.

Power Cost Monitor Trial: Doug Goaley from Precision Data Systems, Inc. presented the Power Cost Monitor at the April CERT Steering Committee meeting. As a result, several CERT members installed the monitors in their own homes to test its impact on our energy-use behavior, and Steering Committee member Anne Morse is looking into a larger pilot project with the Winona community.

Kreidermacher Farm Biomass: With the help of a mini grant from the Southeast CERT, a farm family in Southeast Minnesota is working with AURI to develop pellets made from local resources such as corn stover, soybean straw and native prairie grasses to create heat for their greenhouses. They are interested in taking marginal pieces of land out of regular agricultural production, and planting native grasses, which can be harvested about once a year. The grasses not only help prevent soil erosion, but when they are harvested and run through a pellet mill, the pellets can be burned for energy.
Read the article here

Corn Plus, an ethanol plant in Winnebago, MN installed two wind turbines last July to feed electricity directly into the plant. Totaling about 2.1 MW peak electricity, the turbines begun producing electricity in March, due to technical difficulties. Corn Plus is the first ethanol plant to install wind turbines to account for some of the electricity used. These two turbines supply about half of the needed electricity. An article in the Fairmont Sentinel covered the story and can be found here.

Joel in Red Wing: CERTs Co-Coordinator Joel Haskard presented about CERTs and Minnesota’s clean energy opportunities April 30th at the Southeastern Minnesota League of Municipalities general membership meeting in Red Wing.

Southwest Region

 
Rural Energy Development Initiative (REDI): The Southwest Initiative Foundation (SWIF) has been selected to manage and implement a statewide program designed to provide organizing and technical assistance to rural entities seeking to develop wind energy electric generation projects. To learn more, visit SWIF’s Web site.

West Central Region

 
WC CERT Meeting: Nearly fifty people met at the West Central CERT Meeting in Sunburg April 29th to learn about Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs). Presentations and meeting summaries will be posted on the web soon.

UM- Morris Goes Green: On April 3, University of Minnesota Morris Chancellor Jacquie Johnson presented at a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on the importance of college and university research on clean energy. UM Morris is on their way to becoming carbon neutral, and will be one of the first Universities in the US to do so. Johnson explained the ways the campus will achieve that goal, and why they are making such an effort to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Read the full article here.

UM Morris was also featured April 17th in the Minnesota Daily article U Morris Practices Green Energy.