$1.2 Million for Alternative Energy Education

MaineBiz:

Northern Maine Community College has received $1.2 million to open an alternative energy education and training center.
The funding from Presque Isle native Mary Smith is one of the largest private contributions a community college in Maine has received, according to a press release. The college will use the money to establish the Northern Maine Center for Excellence in Alternative Energy Training and Education, a concept already in the works but which had lacked funding to move ahead

Damariscotta Hardware Goes Solar

"Damariscotta Hardware recently had 301 photovoltaic panels installed on the roof of the 24,000-square-foot business on Business Route 1. The panels are designed to meet about 70 percent of the store's electricity needs.

The 69-kilowatt system was installed by Maine Energy Performance Solutions of Washington.

The project represents a major step in controlling energy costs for the 55-year-old family business, said Rob Gardiner, the company's president. The store installed a wood gasification boiler last year, cutting heating oil consumption by 90 percent. Electricity stood out as the next biggest energy expense, with a bill exceeding $13,000 in 2008."

- Portland Press Herald

Complaints Over Vinalhaven Windmills

As has happened in other places with wind turbines in close proximity to residential areas, people are finding the noise unacceptable.

Portland Press Herald: "Dedicated two months ago with great fanfare, the Fox Islands Wind Project is producing plenty of power, but also, a sense of shock among some neighbors. They say the noise, which varies with wind speed and direction, ranges from mildly annoying to so intrusive that it disturbs their sleep. And they say they lament losing the subtle silence they cherish living in the middle of Penobscot Bay -- the muffled crash of surf on the ledges and the whisper of falling snow."

Wind Power Fails

The problems in Kittery and Saco show that the site for windmills need to be thoroughly assessed before turbines are put up.

Portland Press Herald:

"In Maine, the theory and the practice never matched.

Saco and Kittery bought the wind turbines with the assurance that they would generate about 90,000 kilowatts a year. Entegrity guaranteed that output with the payment promise.

Saco's windmill generated only about 16,000 kilowatts from the time it was installed in February 2008 until this August, when a meter stopped transmitting data.

In Kittery, where the windmill was supposed to power a trash transfer station and lower the electricity bill for nearby Shapleigh Middle School, the machine generated about 35,000 kilowatts from September 2008 until this fall, when hydraulic brakes malfunctioned, locking the blades in place."

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