Archive for April, 2006
Buildings could be constructed to use no outside energy
From a story by Joel Makower on energy321.com:
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Can buildings use zero net energy, be carbon neutral, and still be
commercially viable? That intriguing question is being asked these
days — not by fringe green building champions, but by major
multinationals. Clearly, they see net-zero buildings yielding net-
positive profits.The most recent development came last week from the World Business
Council for Sustainable Development, which said it is forming an
alliance of companies “to determine how buildings can be designed and
constructed so that they use no energy from external power grids, are
carbon neutral, and can be built and operated at fair market values.”
Take a new look at wood as fuel
Don Wichert, Focus on Energy, wrote the following feature article on the upcoming wood workshop in Wausau on April 19.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )In an era of skyrocketing energy prices, it’s well worth looking into an abundant Wisconsin resource – wood – for fuel for commercial, industrial, and institutional operations. Wood-fired boilers halved the fuel costs for the Barron Area School District. Superior Kilns, Mellen, Wisconsin, saves $186,000 annually burning wood instead of natural gas.
Other business owners and organizations can learn whether wood could cut their costs at “Wood Energy: A Fresh Look at Wisconsin’s Oldest Resource,” a one-day workshop on April 19 at the Northcentral Technical College in Wausau, WI. Fuel distributors and suppliers should also attend, because they’ll see the strength and stability of the wood energy market.
Debate set on wind around Horicon
Tilting at Windmills: Don Quixote, Horicon, and the Wind Farm Debate
Susanne Wofford, Director, Center for the Humanities and Professor of English, UW-Madison
A. Peter Cannon, Madison Audubon Society
Katie Nekola, Clean Wisconsin
Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin
Tuesday, April 11, 7:00 PM
Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium
A roundtable discussion on the current debate about wind farms and wind energy in the context of the artistic, literary and environmental context of Don Quixote’s famous battle against the windmill in Part I of Don Quixote. Questions to be discussed include the environmental concerns raised by giant wind farms, the tensions between environmental needs and local “not in my back yard” responses, and on the ways in which modernity is associated with technology that often seems to be both the solution and the problem itself-the giant of technology that the hero of the first novel tries unsuccessfully to defeat.
Details also available at http://www.humanities.wisc.edu. For more information, contact us at: info@humanities.wisc.edu
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