*News and Events
Iowa Utility to Build a 310-Megawatt Wind Power Plant
Rosebud Sioux Tribe Installs a 750-Kilowatt Wind Turbine
Solar Power Installations Continue Apace in California
European Wave and Tidal Energy Projects Face Setbacks
University of Idaho Sweeps SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge
*Site News
Energy Trust of Oregon
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NEWS AND EVENTS
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MidAmerican Energy Company, Iowa’s largest utility, announced last week its intention to construct a 310-megawatt wind power facility in northwest or north-central Iowa. The project will consist of up to 200 wind turbines and will rival in capacity the largest existing U.S. wind power plant: the 300-megawatt Stateline Wind Energy Center, located along the border of Oregon and Washington. Although MidAmerican expects the first turbines to come online in 2004, and the entire project to be complete by 2006, the company has not yet selected a location for the project. [sorry this link is no longer available]
Rosebud Sioux Tribe Installs a 750-Kilowatt Wind Turbine
The Rosebud Sioux Indian Tribe installed a 750-kilowatt wind turbine on its reservation last week, completing a project that began eight years ago with wind resource monitoring. With half of the project funded by a DOE Cooperative Grant, the Rosebud Tribe financed the remainder of the project by obtaining the first-ever loan for a tribal wind energy project from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utility Service. The project will supply power to the reservation and will also sell power to the Basin Electric Power Cooperative. “Green tags” from the project are also being sold through NativeEnergy, LLC.
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe is located in south-central South Dakota. DOE estimates that the 24 reservations in the northern Great Plains have a wind energy potential greater than 300 gigawatts. [sorry this link is no longer available]
Clif Bar Inc., a maker of all-natural energy and nutrition foods, is the latest buyer of green tags from NativeEnergy. Clif Bar is buying enough green tags to displace about 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. [sorry this link is no longer available]
Solar Power Installations Continue Apace in California
California continues to maintain a rapid pace for solar power installations, judging by recent announcements from Shell Solar and PowerLight Corporation. In March, the two companies announced a total of nearly 800 kilowatts of new solar energy installations.
[sorry this link is no longer available]
Two European projects to demonstrate wave and tidal energy production — one in Denmark and one in Norway — have recently encountered setbacks and delays.
The Wave Dragon is an offshore floating device that captures ocean waves in an elevated reservoir, then converts that reservoir’s stored energy into electricity by running the water through a hydroelectric turbine as it is returned to the ocean. http://www.wavedragon.net/technology/principles.htm
The University of Idaho took first place in the Society of Automotive Engineers’ (SAE) Clean Snowmobile Challenge, held last week at Michigan Technological University (MTU). The annual event marked its fourth year of challenging university students to produce a snowmobile that is clea
ner, more fuel efficient, and quieter than existing models, while still being fun to ride. The University of Idaho took first place in the event’s major categories — emissions, noise, and fuel economy — while also performing well in the performance categories. The team used a BMW four-stroke motorcycle engine to achieve its impressive win. See the SAE press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
See also the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge Web page at:
http://www.sae.org/students/snow.htm
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| Kevin Eber is the Editor of EREE Network News, a weekly publication of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). |
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