Energy
Great Lakes states examine alternatives to coal-fired power plants
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Illinois, Indiana and Ohio were all in the top five coal destinations in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Energy
Wisconsin court clears controversial ‘frac sand’ mining permit
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The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has upheld a decision by Buffalo County officials to grant a permit that would allow more than 100 truckloads a day of fracking sand to be trucked on local roads.
Energy
Inadequate tree-trimming contributed to lengthy power outages
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Consumers Energy was singled out in a Michigan Public Service Commission staff report for spending nearly $16 million less than the MPSC approved for the utility for vegetation management in 2013.
Energy
Cheap natural gas a challenge for cogeneration plant
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In 2006 when a Minnesota group announced a $60 million biomass cogeneration plant, spot prices for natural gas topped $13 per million Btu. By the time the power plant began operating in May 2009, they had plunged below $4. Operators say they’ve stayed viable by cutting costs and upgrading efficiency.
Energy
Green versus green and energy dilemmas
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No alternative energy source is without its environmental costs. But as demand for power continues and as existing fossil-fuel and nuclear plants age, the truth is that the Great Lakes states need to aggressively explore alternatives.
Energy
Turtles vs. turbines
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An Ontario court has ruled in favor of a wind turbine project that put environmental groups at odds with each other.
On one side are supporters of an alternative energy project. On the other are those favoring the protection of a threatened turtle species and fragile soil.
Energy
Southeast Chicago residents take petcoke fight to the streets
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Feeling that elected officials have betrayed them in the battle over piles of petroleum coke on the Southeast Side of Chicago, residents have vowed to take the fight to the streets and into their own hands.
Energy
Waste to work: Penn State researchers use industrial waste in hydraulic fracturing
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While the debate over the long-term environmental impact of what is commonly known as fracking rages, researchers at Penn State University say they have discovered how to use industrial waste products to make the practice more sustainable. During the lifetime of a fracking well, millions of gallons of water are pumped deep into the ground, causing immense fractures and releasing natural gas from the underlying shale deposits. Mixed into the water are chemicals of variable toxicity. But it also contains sand particles to keep fractures open, allowing the natural gas to continue flowing. These particles, known as proppants, are the focus of Penn State material scientists John Hellmann and Barry Scheetz’s research.
Energy
New York court leaves turbine project dangling in the wind
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An appeals court has refused to order a local government to extend a special use permit for a proposed multimillion-dollar 29-turbine wind farm in Western New York. Allegany Wind LLC unsuccessfully sought a one-year extension of its permit for the controversial project in the town of Allegany, in Cattaraugus County just north of the Pennsylvania border. When the original permit was issued in July 2011, the town notified the company that the approval would expire if construction has not commenced within a year. The town extended the deadline because of a lawsuit by project opponents, Concerned Citizens of Cattaraugus. The citizens group lost that challenge in November 2011.
Energy
Fracking sand mines credited for fluctuating property values
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By Alison Dirr
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Perry Schmitt describes himself as pro-mining but blames the frac sand mine across the highway from his home for driving down the asking price by more than $25,000, to $189,000. His neighbors made out better. Kari Curran and her husband sold 130 acres for $1.5 million to a company affiliated with Unimin Mining Corp., operator of the mine. The property was previously valued at about $225,000. “It was kind of bittersweet,” Curran said.