Category Archives: Energy
Good News: PUC Sets New Values for Health & Environmental Cost of Energy
Train derailments, pipeline spills, explosions – it feels like the energy sector is just one bad news story after another, but that’s not the case in Minnesota. We’ve got a little celebrating to do! At the end of December, the … Continue reading
Do You Dream of Going Solar?
Fall is the time to start planning for a solar PV (electricity) installation for the coming year. You can learn more about solar energy by taking a class at the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society (MRES). This organization also offers site … Continue reading
Researchers Question Enbridge Oil Spill Risk Assessment Methods
Today is the last day to submit a rebuttal comment to Enbridge’s request before the PUC to increase the carrying capacity of one of its pipelines across northern Minnesota. Yesterday the Vancouver Sun carried an interesting article about Enbridge’s faulty … Continue reading
The Focus of Year 3: Learning and Political Action
So we’re two-plus years into this adventure. The first year we worked on energy usage and reducing our carbon footprint. The second year we worked on food production and food preservation. This year we’re focusing on learning more about the … Continue reading
Take Action Today: PUC Comment on Enbridge Pipeline Expansion
Immediate Action Needed: Enbridge Energy has filed a Certificate of Need permit with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to increase the capacity of its Line 67 pipeline by 26%. The PUC accepted public comments and Enbridge made a response. The … Continue reading
Bill Could Allow Energy Companies to Substitute Dirty Biomass for Electricity Savings
Alan Muller, with Neighbors Against the Burner, posted an interesting notice in a Transition discussion group about House File 780 and Senate File 642. This is important information that was new to me so I asked for his permission to … Continue reading
Personal Permaculture 2: Capture and Store Energy
This month’s permaculture principle is “Capture and store energy.” Since we’re looking at permaculture broadly, the conversation encompassed many different types of energy.
Emergency Preparedness and the Long Emergency
Preparedness Discussion Group This group began in November 2012 after a few members watched the video Peak Prosperity and began talking about how to prepare for immediate emergencies and the “long emergency” of climate change. We aren’t showing the video … Continue reading
Baby It’s Cold Out There – but warm in here!
Solar Hot Air Panels Doing Their Job I was initially uncertain about the value of buying solar hot air panels. The therms we were told the two panels would produce seemed like they would be too little to make a … Continue reading
