Nebraska wins $2.3 million in USDA 9006/ REAP loans and grants for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects (AP). $35 million was awarded nationally. The 170 successful Nebraska projects included wind turbines, geothermal systems, biomass corn stoves, and the conversion of diesel irrigators to electric.
The Kansas Energy Office has now hired someone to help Kansans fill out REAP and CREBs applications. Contact them for more information.
Good farm economy still at risk (Bloomberg). Originally found this article on Climateer. Quotable:
U.S. agricultural income is the highest in three decades after corn and soybeans rose to records. The risk for farmers is that costs are rising even faster, increasing concern of a profit squeeze.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture report tomorrow may show costs are accelerating as revenue growth slows, similar to a pattern that led to a 1980s farm crisis that was the worst since the Great Depression, said Gary Schnitkey, a University of Illinois farm economist. Corn, wheat and soybean prices are all at least 18 percent below their peaks.
Fertilizer costs doubled from a year ago, while fuel increased 62 percent, USDA data show. Expenses probably will surpass the $279.2 billion that the USDA estimated in February, eroding net income the government pegged at a record $92.3 billion for 2008, farmers and economists said.
“Income peaked this year,” said Kurt Line, who owns or manages more than 6,800 acres of farmland near Momence, Illinois. “We should see a significant drop in 2009. For the number of dollars we will be risking the next two years, profit margins are not going to be robust.”
New study identifies cause of death for bats around wind turbines - air pressure drops (NAWindpower). Quotable:
The study shows that 90% of the bats examined after death showed signs of internal hemorrhaging consistent with barotraumas, while only about half showed evidence of direct contact with the blades.
The study was initiated by power generation company TransAlta Corp. after its wind farm operators noticed bat carcasses below wind turbines and approached Barclay, an internationally recognized bat expert, for advice.
“It was important for us to determine as much as we could about this issue,” says Jason Edworthy, director for stakeholder relations for TransAlta. “Ultimately, it’s a situation we’re working hard to alleviate. Ongoing research with the university is seeing some real results in terms of mitigation of collisions.”
TX regulators slap rate restrictions on proposed coal-fired plant in Arkansas (Reuters). (The project also appears to be having problems with an air permit.) Quotable:
In its final order, signed this week, the Texas Public Utility Commission said Texas customers of AEP’s Southwestern Electric Power Co (SWEPCO) unit will pay no more their share of the $1.52 billion price tag to build the 600-megawatt John W Turk Jr. coal-fired plant in Fulton, Arkansas.
“This cap on the capital cost of the Turk plant limits the financial risk to Texas ratepayers,” the order said.
Texas regulators, who voted last month to approve the plant, also limited the amount of future carbon-mitigation costs than can be passed to Texas ratepayers at $28 per ton through 2030.
Estimated costs for carbon mitigation ranged from $13 to $70 per ton, with the average between $30-$45, the order said.
— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org
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