Gulf of Maine Wind Farm Plan

"BANGOR — A Boston-based developer of wind turbines that can operate in deep waters has been meeting with state leaders about plans for a large wind power project at an undetermined site in the Gulf of Maine.

'What we're trying to do is focus in and find an appropriate location in the state of Maine that will have minimal impact on the fisheries and the environment,' said Raymond Dackerman, general manager of Blue H USA.

The company said it's aiming for a site far enough at sea that any large turbines would not be visible from land.

Maine has emerged as one of the premier areas on the East Coast for wind energy, but all projects approved or proposed thus far are based on land.

Experts estimate that more than 100,000 megawatts of potential wind energy could be tapped in the Gulf of Maine, which has strong and steady winds year round.

Blue H USA claims to have developed and patented a turbine that is shorter and lighter than most land-based industrial turbines yet produces more power."

- Portland Press Herald

Trust May Sell Land to Developer

"A controversial proposal to sell seven acres of conservation land on Crystal Spring Farm to a developer will go before members of the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust this fall.

The land trust wants to sell the property between Baribeau Drive and Pleasant Hill Road and use the money to help conserve farmland in western Brunswick.

It intends to put the issue to a vote of members as early as October, said executive director Angela Twitchell.

The organization's board has debated the issue since it received a proposal last spring from an unidentified developer who wants to build a long-term care facility on the site.

The parcel is in the city's Medical Use Zone, and has less conservation value than the remaining 155 acres of the north parcel of Crystal Spring Farm, said land trust president Tom Settlemire.

'This is a piece of land that is not a high priority in terms of land conservation. It came as part of the package, and we identified right from the start that we could use proceeds from the sale of this land to conserve other pieces,' Settlemire said.

The land trust raised $2.2 million to buy the Crystal Spring Farm-North parcel. Some members who contributed to the campaign have called the proposed sale a betrayal, and say it violates the spirit of the fundraising campaign." - more

- Portland Press Herald

Vinalhaven and North Haven Approve Wind Projects

"VINALHAVEN — The cooperative that supplies electricity to Vinalhaven and North Haven is moving ahead with what it says will be the largest coastal wind turbine project in the Northeast.

Members of the Fox Islands Electric Cooperative voted 382 to 5 this week in favor of the plan to erect two or three turbines that will provide electricity directly to residents of the two Penobscot Bay islands without going through the power grid.

The co-op said the turbines are expected to generate 3.5 to 5 megawatts more power than a wind project in Hull, Mass., a coastal town of more than 11,000 year-round residents that gets about 12 percent of its power from two land-based turbines.

Vinalhaven and North Haven have a combined year-round population of 1,500 that balloons to 4,500 during the summer. The turbines are expected to generate enough power for all winter residents, enabling the co-op to sell excess electricity into the grid; in summer, the co-op will have to import power to meet all of its customers' needs.

The overall cost of the project is expected to run between $10 million and $13 million, according to Bill McGuinness, policy specialist with the Island Institute, which has been working on the plans"

- Portland Press Herald

Lobster price down

"A solid harvest and diminished demand from diners adjusting to the weak economy have pushed the retail price of lobster in Maine beneath $6 a pound, tightening the financial squeeze on fisherman struggling with soaring fuel prices.

While fewer locals and tourists overall are shelling out for lobster dinners, some say the affordability -- at a time when most food prices are rising -- has encouraged them to eat more of the seafood delicacy than usual."

Boston.com

Geothermal regulations

"There are an estimated 500 geothermal energy systems in Maine homes and businesses, but only about a half dozen are registered as required under federal and state law. And some engineers and experts warn that a lack of proper regulation is a disaster waiting to happen.

So the state is trying to assess the risk posed by the systems and impose some oversight without discouraging investment in the technology, one of several alternatives to fossil fuels as the cost of heating oil soars.

'We need to promote this technology. It just needs to be done right,' said Erich Kluck, an environmental specialist who runs the state's Underground Injection Control Program. 'If we don't have clean drinking water, the price of oil isn't going to matter.'"

- Boston.com

'Great Eastern Mussel Farm shuts down'

MaineToday.com:

"The Great Eastern Mussel Farms Inc. of Tenants Harbor announced this morning it is immediately shutting down the company and laying off its 40 full-time employees.

The company cited increased regulatory challenges, competition from Canadian mussel growers and rising energy costs for the demise of the 30-year-old company. Founded in 1978 by Endicott 'Chip' Davison, the company was a pioneer in developing the modern mussel industry in North America."

Unemployment Up

"The Maine Labor Department says the state's unemployment rate rose by seventh-tenths of a percentage point in May to 5.4 percent, Maine's highest rate in more than a decade.

Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman says last month's monthly increase was unusually large. The comparable seasonally adjusted national jobless rate for May was one-tenth of a percentage point higher, 5.5 percent.

Labor officials say the increase is due in part to the sagging national economy. But part of the rise is due to a statistical fluke, because jobless rates were measured a week after many college students finished their work study for the year but had not yet gotten summer jobs."

- MaineToday.com

Slight Income Growth

"Mainers' personal incomes grew 0.8 percent, slightly below the national average, during the first three months of the year, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday.

The first-quarter growth rate in Maine matched the rate of growth in the last three months of 2007. It was also slightly below the national increase in personal incomes of 1.1 percent.

'It's entirely consistent with the economic pattern that we've seen,' said Charles Colgan, an economist and professor at the University of Southern Maine.

Colgan said that, in general, personal incomes follow the economy, unless there's something unusual about the labor market. Maine's unemployment rate has risen in recent months, so there's no upward pressure on wages, he said.

Colgan is expecting very modest growth in the economy in the second half of the year.

Health care and social assistance continued to be the industry sector contributing the most to personal income growth, accounting for 0.16 percentage points of the 0.8 percent increase.

The biggest drag was from the construction industry, where personal income declines took 0.07 percentage points off the total growth."

- Portland Press Herald

Eliot passes solar and wind ordinances

Voters in Eliot approved two new ordinances permitting wind and solar energy systems in town.

The solar ordinance passed 852 to 158 and the wind ordinance passed 831 to 183.

The two ordinances will permit small wind and solar energy systems, and will allow the town to regulate them to make sure they’re installed and operated safely. The town’s energy commission, which put forth the ordinances, believes they will send a statement that alternative power systems are welcome in town.

The ordinances spell out regulations such as setbacks and height limitations.

Eliot is now among the first communities in the state to pass an ordinance that specifically addresses these kinds of systems, according to Michael Starn, spokesman for the Maine Municipal Association.

- mainetoday

Passamaquoddy gets more money for tidal power effort

The Passamaquoddy Tribe of Pleasant Point has received a $120,000 grant by the Department of the Interior's Division of Energy and Mineral Development to continue pursuing tidal power in the region.

Two years ago, the tribe received a $55,000 federal grant to study the feasibility of harnessing tidal currents for energy. Stephen Crawford, the tribe's environmental director, told the Bangor Daily News the grant will fund the testing of an underwater turbine in several locations to work toward developing a tidal-power site in the waters off the reservation.

According to Crawford, if all goes well the tidal turbines could supply power to every Washington County town in a little over a decade.

- Mainebiz

Plastic recycling

Here is some data from ecomaine on plastic recycling (via The Vigorous North):

The non-colored (natural) HDPE milk jugs (marked with a number 2 on the bottom) are now commanding over $800 per ton ($18,000 per trailer load). We sell a lot of this material to a Company in York PA called Graham Packaging which makes new plastic containers for detergents and cleaners (non-food).

The Colored HDPE #2 containers are sold to various markets (including Graham Packaging) at $600 per ton. Again, they make new bottles out of scrap bottles.

The PET #1 containers are sorted automatically by our scanner and sold at $400 per ton to various markets that make carpet or stuffing for sleeping bags and jackets, etc.

The 3-7 plastic we mix and sell together because we don't get enough of any one of them to substantiate accumulating them in separate loads. These markets are in their infancy (just like the #1 & #2 markets were 18 years ago). However they're the smallest percentage of what we process... See below.

Make up of the Plastics we process:

Colored HDPE #2: 28%
Natural HDPE #2: 25%
PET #1: 25%
Plastics #3-#7: 22%

Paper mill closing will leave 208 jobless

"MILLINOCKET - Katahdin Paper Co. LLC says it's closing its Millinocket paper mill, putting about 208 people out of work.

Fraser Paper, which operates Katahdin's mills, cited high energy prices Thursday for the indefinite closure of the Millinocket mill effective on July 29.

Fraser CEO Peter Gordon says fuel costs have doubled over the past 12 months. Last year, the Millinocket mill consumed more than 400,000 barrels of oil.

Paper produced at the Millinocket mill is used in the magazine, catalog and retail-insert industries. Katahdin's East Millinocket mill, which produces paper used in telephone directories, is not affected."

- MaineToday.com

Lobster boat sales slow

"JONESPORT — For the first time in 24 years of building lobster boats, Wayne Beal doesn't have any job orders.

He has a 42-footer under construction at his boatyard -- but he's building it for himself, so he can give up boat building and go lobster fishing instead.

In Maine, where lobster is king, Beal and other lobster boat builders are braving tough times. With the lobster catch down and fishermen feeling an economic squeeze, boat sales have hit the skids.

So even with the uncertainties facing lobster fishermen, Beal believes he's better off doing that than sitting around and hoping for more boat orders to come in."

- Portland Press Herald