Solar panels, wind turbines and methane digesters are big hits on American farms and ranches, that according to a new survey from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The 2009 On-Farm Renewable Energy Production Survey, the first-ever nationwide survey that looked at renewable energy practices on America’s farms and ranches, shows that these types of energy sources have increased significantly over …
Flat Water Wind Project Completed in Nebraska & Kansas
The Flat Water Wind project has been completed in Southern Nebraska’s Richardson County and Kansas’ Nemaha County. This 60 megawatt (MW) wind farm is comprised of 40 1.5 MW GE wind turbines and was completed on November 15, 2010 – one month ahead of schedule. The wind farm was developed and constructed by Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES) for …
Renewables In and Out of Obama Budget
There are renewable winners and losers in the FY2012 budget proposed this week by President Obama. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the president has included funding in the budget “To promote the domestic production of renewable energy, we invest in renewable energy programs related to commercialization; research and development; education and outreach; and energy efficiency and conservation. We are also …
GE Buys Technology to Build Bigger Wind Towers
General Electric has acquired technology that will help it build taller wind towers. This company press release says this next generation technology from Wind Tower Systems, LLC (WTS) is necessary as wind turbine blades have been getting longer: WTS has been working on the development of the space frame tower system technology for use at wind farm sites that require …
USDA Guarantees South Dakota Wind Loans
A South Dakota wind farm will receive U.S. Department of Agriculture loan guarantees that will help build 100 wind turbines providing 151.5 megawatts of electricity. This USDA press release says the money will help Basin Electric Power Cooperative build the PrairieWinds wind farm energy project in central South Dakota that will join the cooperative’s other electric generation projects to meet …
Wind Powers the Super Bowl
Despite being indoors, there was plenty of wind used during Sunday’s Super Bowl (no, I’m not talking about Joe Buck yammering on). The electricity used to power everything from TV cameras to the massive jumbo screen has been offset by the purchase of wind energy credits from a wind farm in Texas. This story from Environment News Service says the …
AWEA: Wind Energy Cost Competitive with Natural Gas
One of the big knocks against alternative forms of energy is that they are not cost competitive to more traditional counterparts. However, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) now contends that wind energy generation costs about the same as natural gas. And this article from ClimateCentral.org says despite a tough year for new wind energy installations, the group is looking …
Iowa State to Hold Wind and Solar Energy Conference
While Iowa might be best known for its ethanol and biodiesel industries, the Hawkeye State is also a leader in wind energy (with more than 1,100 wind turbines across the state) and would like to become bigger in solar. So it only makes sense that Iowa State University Extension will be sponsoring a Wind and Solar Energy Conference on March …
Acciona Building Second Oklahoma Wind Farm
Spanish wind energy company Acciona Energy is building its second wind farm in Oklahoma. This story from Eco Friend News.com says the Dempsey Ridge Wind Farm located in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma will produce 132 megawatts and will take about a year to build: The Dempsey Ridge Wind Farm is located just 15 miles west of ACCIONA Energy’s 123-MW Red …
President’s Energy Goals Sound Familiar
Representatives of the renewable fuels industry were pleased to hear President Obama talking about energy independence during his State of the Union address last night, saying that we need to “break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015” as well as mentioning wind and solar, …