Earlier this morning, we posted about a federal grants workshop that Congressman Walz is sponsoring in Rochester on December 3. One area covered in the breakout sessions is alternative energy. Judging from the district papers today, renewable energy continues strong in Southern Minnesota economic mix.
The Rock County Star Herald reports in Beaver Creek wind to battery project first in nation:
The wind has long been used as a legitimate power source, but capturing and storing that energy has been a missing piece of the puzzle.
Now researchers believe they've cracked the code to wind energy storage, and it is being tested on the local Minwind Energy turbines near Beaver Creek.
On Monday Xcel Energy hosted tours of a battery test site at the Beaver Creek substation and offered public information at the Rock County Community Library.
The $4.5 million technology is the first of its kind in the United States to be used for direct wind energy storage.
The
battery module -roughly the size of two semi trailers - has the
capacity to store about 7.2 megawatt hours of electricity. It can
discharge one megawatt of wind power that can be moved to the
electricity grid when needed.
Fully charged, the battery could power 500 homes for more than seven hours. Developers say it will be key to expanding the use of renewable energy. . . .
Renewable energy isn't the exclusive franchise of the wind industry. In Madelia Model seeks alternative crops for energy, the New Ulm Journal reports:
Pieces of the Madelia Model project that would create alternative energy from alternative crops are moving forward.
The model involves locally-grown biomass including natural and industrial feedstocks within a 25-mile radius of rural Minnesota communities.
The project creates rural jobs, improved water quality, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas reduction, improved wildlife habitat and crop diversity.
The Madelia "fuel shed" would include Winnebago, Mankato, New Ulm, Sleepy Eye and St. James areas.
Sponsored by Rural Advantage of Fairmont - which promotes the interconnection of agriculture, rural communities and the environment - the Madelia Model is built around crop initiative. . . .
Read the whole article in the Journal.
The Mankato Free Press editorial board considers the cost of developing renewable energy in Sacrifice and prospects for green energy.
The Post Bulletin reports in Rochester's health sector makes up for manufacturing job losses that employment is up by 600 jobs from a year ago, almost entirely because of the Mayo city's robust health care industry. The health sector growth masks losses in maunfacturing.
Creighton University's Rural Mainstreet Index, which complied a survey of bank CEOs, found that Bankers surveyed express little confidence in rural economy, according to an AP report published in the Winona Daily News.>
Photo: The kitteh isn't the only one basking in solar energy on the prairie. Last April, the New Ulm Journal reported on a solar project in Cottonwood County.
Since it's a cold November day on the prairies, here's a little music for the chilling economy:
Comments