Green Racine


Welcome to Green Racine!

Please check the page out and visit the links. I love Nuke and Wind Power. Still think we should drill here and drill now!
A wide mix here from Green power to why we need to end the Embargo on Cuba.
I see myself as being GREEN but far from an Al Gore Green Nazi.
Hope this page provokes thought if nothing else

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Cuba

We need to end the Embargo now. I am not some left wing Obama kinda guy but a right wing free trade America is #1.
And that why I think we need to do this. As we all know Cuba as found a great deal of Oil/Gas off there shores. At this time we can not sell them goods or serves that Cuba needs to explote this, so who is? The PRC and Venezuela both not our friends both seeking to harm us. Yes they are investing millions and able to get resources they need as we just sit here.
Cuba will of course have a great deal of money to spend it would be great if they could spend it here in America.

Castro is well not long for this world and when he goes would be a great opening for this Country to obtain influence not by sending troops or the CIA no. By sending Coke and MTV, get the Cuban to want the same things we have, the est will follow. When the Average Cuban sees that the Ave American has so much more and opertunties are all around the Cuban people will put paid to their Marxist government.
With Cuba out of the Orbit of Venezuela our guy Hugo will be seeing the writing on the wall.

Winter

As we go into the Winter of 08-09 tonight Racine WI is going to get 8" of snow. (Grrr) I am taking the time to think of what I can do to improve our Recycle-Reduce-Reuse goals.
With out first heating bill of the season coming any day, I am very glad that my wife thought of getting our attic better insulated. The $600+ we will spend should pay for itself quickly and help reduce our use of NG.
The Garden is put to bed and we are planing on expanding it and hopefully starting another plot Green Racine is a firm believer in growing one own food to insure quality and supply.
Check out our Amazon Store and if you can please pick out a book or two for someone this Xmas.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Michels at 50 years!

Brownsville, Wis.-based Michels, a balance-of-plant construction firm, is celebrating its 50-year anniversary.

"When all this began, it was mainly a pipeline company, and now we are proficient in so many different areas, including wind energy, directional drilling and power," says Pat Michels, president of Michels.

According to Michels, the company ranks 64th among the top 400 contractors. Michels plans to begin its anniversary celebrations in January at the Michels' annual leadership conference in Madison, Wis.

Friday, November 14, 2008

A battery for Wind Power

Xcel looks to harness wind energy for use even when there's no wind

The project, which also includes the state and a tech firm, is installing a battery that is the first U.S. device that can store wind power.

By DEE DePASS, Star Tribune

Last update: November 12, 2008 - 10:20 PM

Next spring Xcel Energy Inc., the state of Minnesota and a Virginia-based technology firm will test the first battery in the country capable of storing wind energy.

The breakthrough technology, which is the size of two semitrailer trucks stacked atop each other, was built in Japan and shipped to Luverne, Minn., where it will store electricity generated by the nearby Minwind Energy wind turbines. S&C Electric Co. expects the equipment will be completely installed by April.

The battery consists of a score of 50-kilowatt modules. When it is fully charged, the massive sodium-sulfur battery -- which weighs about 80 tons -- can store 7.2 megawatt-hours of electricity. That's enough to power 500 homes for about seven hours. It will cost more than $5.4 million to buy and install the battery and analyze its performance.

The technology could help allay critics of wind energy, who lament that no electricity is produced when there's no wind. If successful, the battery will store wind energy and release its power onto the electrical grid when the air is still.

"Energy storage is key to expanding the use of renewable energy," Xcel Chairman and CEO Dick Kelly said. "This technology has the potential to reduce the impact caused by the variability and limited predictability of wind-energy generation."

Xcel, which invested $3.6 million in the project, expects the battery "to become very important to both us and our customers," Kelly said.

Xcel, the largest wind-energy producer in the country, is working to make it easier to integrate renewable energy onto the electrical grid as part of its "Smart Grid" strategy. It has a mandate to generate 30 percent of all its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Xcel bought the battery from Japan's NGK Insulators Ltd. The batteries are used in Japan to store wind energy, and are used in a few nonwind applications in the United States.

"But this is the first U.S. application of the battery as a direct wind-energy storage device," Kelly said.

In addition to Xcel, the Minnesota Renewable Development Fund is contributing $1 million to the project. GridPoint, a power grid management firm based in Arlington, Va., kicked in $750,000. The University of Minnesota will analyze the battery system and grid connections. Other participants in the project include the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Great Plains Institute.

Xcel announced this month that it will develop 351 megawatts of new wind-energy production by December 2011 -- enough to power about 110,000 homes. The company said it plans to increase its current wind resources by more than 10 percent. The $900 million expansion includes a 201-megawatt project in southwest Minnesota's Nobles County, and a 150-megawatt project in Dickey and McIntosh Counties in so

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Rail Freight

Did you know that using trains for transport of freight is 100 times more effective then using trucks.
But not very good at moving people short distances (50 MI) so then tell me why so many experts
are all about light rail that does not break even and requires massive tax dollars.
The same experts do not support what has been proven to work and helps reduce hwy travel and amount of fuel used.
In Racine WI those in power are trying to force a lt rail system on Southeast Wisconsin well IMHO is just that nifty P/C cool thing that they can play with while the real benefits that a Freight System could bring to the entire area not just a few rich folks wanting something to feel good about

More Wind Power

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has placed an order for 22 wind turbine generators with Vestas for the proposed expansion of the utility's Wild Horse wind and solar facility. Delivery of the turbines and initial construction, after all approvals are received, is slated for mid-2009, with entry into commercial service by later that year. The turbine order accounts for the major portion of the proposed $100 million project.

"The turbines have proven themselves at our Wild Horse and Hopkins Ridge facilities in providing a reliable source of clean, renewable energy," says Kimberly Harris, executive vice president and chief resource officer for PSE. "Building on the success of Wild Horse makes sense for our customers and for the economy of the Kittitas Valley."

Vestas is the current supplier to Wild Horse and the utility's Hopkins Ridge Wind Facility in Dayton.

In addition to the turbine order, the Kittitas County board of commissioners voted at a public hearing to approve the expansion plan as a modification to the original 2005 site development agreement with the county. The planned expansion will result in 149 turbines and a capacity of 269 MW at Wild Horse – well within the original development agreement limits of 158 turbines and 312 MW. Currently, the wind facility has 127 turbines capable of producing 229 MW of electricity.

An environmental impact study for the project will be completed later this year, with final approval of the expansion plan expected by the state Energy Facilities Site Evaluation Council in early 2009.