Local couple expands commitment to going green

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While many people are content to “go green” by turning off unneeded lights and carpooling once in a while, Mike and Marguerite Krause take their efforts a step further, and their passion for sustainability is apparent with a quick look at the roof of the couple’s St. Louis Park home.Champlin-based Powerfully Green installed 15 Silicon Energy 195-watt modules — capable of producing 2,925 total watts of electricity — on the roof of the Krauses’ house and garage last fall. The solar panels, which went live Jan. 5, supply energy for the entire house and, at times, send energy back to the grid.Mike Krause said he and his wife have been interested in environmental issues and conservation since high school. They had been exploring opportunities regarding solar panel installation for a while and, after considering the option to lease solar panels, decided to purchase the system.“The cost for solar panels had been coming down over the past few years and there were some tax incentive and rebate programs that became available just in the last year or two, so we thought this seemed like a good time to try it,” he said.Mike and Marguerite Krause pose next to one of the 15 solar panels that were installed on their St. Continue Reading

OPINION | Coal’s gold watch

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Several factors are forcing many coal plants into retirement (hence the title’s gold watch reference). According to the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, 110 coal plants in the U.S. have announced planned retirements since January 1, 2010. This represents 328 coal-fired units and 45,751 MW of energy generating capacity, roughly 13.5% of the total coal-fired generating capacity in the U.S.These pending shutdowns have been playing out particularly in Ohio and northeast Illinois. The entity that manages the electricity grid in the region, PJM Interconnection (the Mid-Atlantic’s version of our Midwest Independent System Operator), recently held an auction to determine power prices for the 2015-16 cycle.Prior to the auction, Midwest Generation announced that two of its coal plants in Chicago will close down this September, and Amaren Corp has threatened to shutdown several more in Illinois because they are no longer economical to run with the costs of environmental upgrades. First Energy also announced plans shortly before the auction to close four coal plants in Ohio for similar reasons.People expected prices to soar at the auction because of the quick reduction of supply coupled with unchanging or growing energy demand. Continue Reading

From soils to consumption

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Minnesota now has a state soil. The designation of Lester as the state soil in the omnibus agriculture law coincides with the University of Minnesota’s 2013 celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the soil science program and the 40-year-old Minnesota Association of Professional Soil Scientists, according to Rep. Paul Anderson (R-Starbuck), who sponsors the law with Sen. Doug Magnus (R-Slayton).However, a large portion of the law will require new labeling of landscape and garden stock designed to help consumers choose hardy stock for Minnesota’s extreme growing conditions.The law is effective Aug. 1, 2012, unless otherwise noted.Planting guidelinesThe new law defines “non-hardy” as a plant that cannot be expected to survive or produce flowers in certain growing zones and requires non-hardy nursery stock to be labeled as such. Sellers of nursery stock will also be required to keep balled and burlapped stock moist at all times.Similarly, nursery stock collected from the wild must be labeled as such when sold, unless it has been grown in nursery rows at least two years; and vegetable and flower seed packets could list the number of seeds in the packet, instead of the net weight.The Department of Agriculture’s nursery and plant inspection and enforcement powers will expand to include the department’s Wholesale Produce Dealer, Grain Buyer/Grain Storage, and Warehouse oversight responsibilities. The department can enter sites, inspect and sample products, issue commissioner’s orders, and pursue administrative and criminal penalties for failure to follow the Wholesale Produce Dealer, Grain Buyer/Grain Storage, or Warehouse laws.Grains and livestockA public grain warehouse operator’s license must currently be filed before the purchase or storage of grain may occur. Continue Reading

Energy: Implementation

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If you ask just about anyone who makes a living predicting the future of societies and economies in the developed world, they will tell you we are a technology drive society. New ideas, products, and systems will change our lives and get us out of any jam.

This is one post in a small series on energy in the US, focusing on energy independence and renewables.

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Energy: Biogas

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Anyone who has spent time in a swamp, like the incredible Florida Everglades, knows what “biogas” is. It’s the end result of natural processes that break down plant matter and return the nutrients back to the soil – and produce a lot of methane gas. Capturing that process, improving it, and making use of the methane is a very old technology that has been in use in some form for centuries.

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