On the other side of the globe, New Zealand already gets 60 percent of its electric power from renewables but wants to raise that figure to an amazing 90 percent by 2025.

First off, the ruins of the old mills.

The city of Minneapolis grew up around the grain processing and flour producing businesses, powered by the energy of the Mississippi river and the St. Anthony falls. They were able to channel part of the river into the banks and use water turbines to drive their machinery. The hydro power plant located at the falls is the second oldest (by only a couple weeks) hydro power plant in the western hemisphere! It began operation in 1882. There is a hydro plant still in operation today at the same site.

An old turbine and the museum:

The partial remains of the old mills are still visible today and there is a Mill City Museum (will visit soon) to capture the history of the industry in the city.

And even some wildlife among the ruins along the riverbank:

Minneapolis was the flour milling capital of the nation from 1880 to 1930. Gold Medal Flour is now General Mills and now owns Pillsbury (since 2000).

A series of 29 locks and dams along the Mississippi River has been installed to make the river deeper and wider. They are designed to maintain a depth of at least 9 feet along the entire river. Here’s a tour boat rising through the lock near the falls:

Running from Lake Itasca, Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi is the 4th longest river in the world, behind the Nile, Amazon and Yangtze and drains over 40% of the lower 48 states.

St. Anthony Falls:

Some sights along the river…A view of the under-construction I-35W bridge just downstream:

The photogenic Guthrie Theater with its Endless Bridge (the bridge has no end!) jutting out over the street:

(view from the river).

The architect recently won the prestigious Pritzker Prize in Architecture.

A flock of segways on a tour:

Can someone tell me why all these trees are leaning the same direction? (east bank of the river)

The Minneapolis skyline from the stone arch bridge:

The rest of the pictures here.

PG&E begins tapping into cow power

PG&E customers will get natural gas from cow manure for the first time today.

In a ceremony at Vintage Dairy, a 1,700-acre dairy farm in Riverdale, not far from Fresno, officials from the utility, the state’s Department of Food and Agriculture and the Energy Commission will join David Albers of BioEnergy Solutions to turn a valve that will send the first of 3 billion cubic feet of natural gas a year into a pipeline.

That’s enough gas to create electricity for 50,000 California homes, and comes from 5,000 cows. The potential for turning waste to energy is vast. “There are nearly 2 million dairy cows in California,” said Jennifer Zerwer, a Pacific Gas & Electric spokeswoman.

PG&E calls it “cow power,” capturing methane released from covered lagoons of cow manure and sending the natural gas into pipelines where it’ll be burned to generate electricity. It’s all part of a state-mandated push to get more energy from renewable sources.

Learn more about this and other programs on PG&E’s Clean Energy Solutions web page.

Swine farm operators in North Carolina can now register to participate in a methane capture pilot program. North Carolina is the second largest hog producing state in the country; in 2006, hog populations topped 9.5 million.

Members of the swine industry first voiced interest in methane-capture programs to state legislators which spurred legislation requiring a percentage of renewable energy to be generated by methane from hog farms.

The Swine Farm Environmental Performance Standards Act of 2007 authorized a methane capture pilot program that will allow up to 50 swine farm operators to sell electricity generated from methane held in onsite lagoons. The program was passed by the state senate in July 2007 as part of Senate Bill 1465.

I would never have guessed that NC is #2 in hog production. Does anyone know who is #1? The 9.5 million hogs slightly outnumber the 9 million humans also living in the state.

Finavera Renewables Inc., is pleased to announce it has been issued a Preliminary Permit for its proposed 100MW Coos County, Oregon wave energy project. The permit approval was granted by the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (”FERC”). The preliminary permit is valid for a period of three years, and allows Finavera Renewables to conduct various studies, including analyses of oceanographic conditions, commercial and recreational activities, and other impacts potentially associated with the planned project. The company will rely on the studies and stakeholder consultations in framing its application to FERC for a project operating license.

Alla Weinstein, Director and General Manager, Ocean Energy said, “The Coos County project is part of the next step along our path to the commercialization of wave energy. Permitting activities for this project will be based on our experience gained in the Makah Bay pilot project, which is the first wave energy project to file for a FERC operating license. This project is designed to meet the State of Oregon’s policy to invest in and support the growth of clean and renewable energy sources for the people of Oregon. We look forward to working closely with the local community to ensure a successful project.”

The proposed Coos County project would use interconnected clusters of the company’s patented AquaBuOY wave energy devices. The project would have a generating capacity of 100MW, and total annual generation from the project is estimated to be approximately 175 gigawatt-hours per-year, which is sufficient electricity to power approximately 15,000 American homes.

Here’s a video about the technology.

Learn more about Finavera Wave Projecs and Wave Technology.

They got 8″ last weekend, so the Wild Mountain ski & snowboard hill was still open this weekend. What is left most places is the melting mounds of snow that was piled up during the winter in parking lots and some snow in fields that are partly shaded.

I was also surprised to see car car pulled over on the interstate last night. Who know what that Camry driver was up to… However, while I was driving around today I saw ZERO cops the entire day. Maybe they are in un-marked cars? Or maybe they are still in hibernation?

On to some pictures from the area today.

Nice farm, with a racetrack carved in the lake in the foreground

Still driving around on the lakes… gathering their ice fishing houses?

Welcome to Lindström

Wild Mountain – not as wild as I imagined

How did that get there? Must have jumped out of a moving truck.

St. Croix Falls Dam & Hyrdopower Plant

This hydro plant located in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin on the St. Croix River, is owned and operated by Xcel Energy Inc. The plant was constructed between 1905 and 1906. According to Xcel, the St. Croix Falls Hydro Plant is its 2nd highest producer of electricity among the Xcel’s-Wisconsin’s 19 hydro plants. The plant utilizes eight hydro turbines, and has the capability of producing up to 117,363 kilowatts of power annually.

Here are a couple before and after shots to illustrate the difference in snow from two months ago to today:

Target parking lot

Movie theater parking lot

More pictures in this album:

2008-03-29 MN-Wis. Sat