EARTHDAY IS 38! BRAINERD, MN – Equipment that WERCs: Digging holes in the earth in winter has always presented problems for contractors. WERC has created a hot new solar powered tool that heats the earth to 150 degrees without costly fuel or fire dangers. When a company claims they operate an environmentally responsible construction business, challenges face them at every level of work. WERC is rising to the challenges in many ways, like operating its diesel engines with less polluting fuel like Used Fryer Oil, operating its buildings on solar, wind and geothermal energy and finding ways to do typical construction work with less pollution. Typically, to thaw the ground during a winter project, a contractor builds a portable enclosure over the earth and heats the enclosure/earth with fossil fuels of some sort. Less conscientious contractors might just burn a pile of scrap wood or waste materials to achieve a thaw. Both these methods send polluting emissions into the air and create fire hazards on the job. The WERC Team has created a portable solar heating tool that mounts on a trailer and thaws the earth without any fuel or AC electricity.” For more information go to http://www.ecowerc.com/solarthaw.html Projects that WERC:
Looking on the MN Department of Commerce wind maps (Link here for map) we can see there is a higher-than-average amount of wind power in a large swath from south of Foley to north of Pierz. They are already thinking about installing another one so they can take advantage of the net metering cap (40 kw) in MN.
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Holly has wanted a wind turbine for years on the farm the Neatons have owned for over a century. Pictured below from the top of the tower is the Neaton homestead.
____________________________________________________________ Connie and Pat Prunty finally gets wind turbine operating: After an abnormally long wait for equipment to get operational, Prunty’s wind turbine is starting to churn out the kilowatt hours from the good wind resources near Dent, MN. The growth of the small wind turbine market has slowed down and even halted the progress of some installations. Trying to keep up with the new electrical codes (IEEE 1547 and UL 1741) that some power companies are requiring, the manufacturers are scrambling to get code compliant interconnections approved. Prunties turbine was held up for about six months but now is on schedule to generate about 22,000 kilowatt hours per year, supplying electricity for their cabin, the local power company and eventually, the Prunty’s future home.
Maureen Pickar, new Chief Operations Officer (COO) of WERC: USDA Offers A Second Opportunity to apply for grant money in 2008 (deadline June 15th) for renewable energy systems for farms and small rural businesses. Go here to see the rest of the article. http://www.ecowerc.com/news/release-3-5-08.html Minnesota Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff Bill Introduced - Bills Now on Legislative Calendars in Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan. Renewable Electricity, Refined Coal, and Indian Coal Production Credit Great River is helping others go green- Great River is launching two loan funds worth $28 million to help businesses construct energy-efficient buildings or install the latest in energy-efficiency equipment. http://www.ecowerc.com/news/startrib-g-river-4-22-08.html EarthDay, thirty-eighth anniversary
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system that turns on with the sun. 
“Clare Palmquist and Dean Marschik have wanted a wind turbine on their farm south of Pierz MN for many years. (Left picture of tower tip-up) The past few months, their new Jacob 31-20 turbine on a 120’ tower has been generating an average of 2000 kilowatt hours per month, slightly more than WERC predicted. 
Prairie Woods ELC gets a 1.95 kW Solar Photo-Voltaic (PV) system on their roof, designed and installed by WERC. This new installation is another step closer to their goal of 100% renewable energy use at their facilities. (Picture of newly installed solar array and Jacobs 31-20 wind turbine which also was designed and installed by WERC)
