Southeast CERTS is pleased to announce the  recipients of the 2008 CERTS-SE Mini-Grants!  The following projects  were selected for funding from among many excellent proposals. Thank you to everyone who submitted proposals and congratulations to  the awardees:  

Winona Senior High School’s Solar Classroom Project

This project seeks to provide an interactive educational solar panel system that would be placed at Winona Senior High School.  Beyond the solar panel itself, the project would also include a computer monitor, a web page, and display boards in side the school that would explain the mechanics and physics of the solar panel, how much power is being created, and how much carbon and other greenhouse gases are being offset.  Thus the project would help the school both offset energy used in one or two high school classrooms and provide an educational tool for students. ($5,000) http://www.rschooltoday.com/se3bin/clientschool.cgi?schoolname=school69

Feasibility Study for Pickwick Mill

With the funds from Southeast CERT the Pickwick Mill non-profit will hire energy consultants and design professionals to determine the feasibility of a microhydro-power installation at the falls in Trout Creek.  Pickwick Mill also seeks to, upon assessment of feasibility, create plans for turbine installation, implementing a power distribution system, developing educational materials and hosting a community forum to highlight the historic and modern hydropower function and benefits of renewable energy. ($5,000) http://www.pickwickmill.org/

 Southeast Minnesota Renewable Energy Fair -   "RE-Fest"

A collaborative partnership – among the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center; the Austin, Owatonna, and Rochester Public Utilities; Riverland Community-College Austin; and Austin Coalition for the Environment and Sustainability – seeks CERT support to host the 1^st Annual Southeast Minnesota Renewable Energy Fair, RE-FEST in September 2008.($5,000)  www.re-fest.org

 Earthen Path Organic Farm

Earthen Path Organic Farm seeks to reduce the amount of energy used in refrigeration at the farm by constructing a well-insulated root cellar with an attached ice house.  The root cellar would be equipped with monitors, automatic controlled venting to best utilize or protect from outside temperatures, heat exchangers to conserve energy in vented air and to distribute “cold” from melting ice, and supplemental refrigeration powered by renewables. ($5,000) http://www.oakcentergeneralstore.com/ourfarm.tab.html

 Northfield School of Arts & Technology Solar Energy Project

Northfield School of Arts and Technology’s (ARTech) renewable solar energy project will establish an alternative source of energy for the school by installing a grid tied solar system on the school’s premises.  ARTech will also use the project to incorporate student-based educational components  and jump start student facilitated community awareness partnerships. ($5,000) http://artech.k12.mn.us/

 Prairie Sustainable Bioenergy Project

The Winona Soil & Water Conservation District (Winona SWCD) seeks funding to study the baseline environmental and wildlife conditions of row crop farmland that will be converted to native grass and forb cover for bioenergy production.  The study will measure soil conditions and animal populations before and after the conversion to native prairie grasses.  Winona SWDC intends to use this study as baseline data for larger alternative energy study projects in Winona County. ($5,000) http://www.winonaswcd.org/

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Funding for these projects is provided through the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the Blandin Foundation.

 

The Clean Energy Resource Teams are a joint program of the University of Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships , the Southwest Regional Development Commission, the Minnesota Project, Minnesota Department of Commerce, and the Green Institute. The CERTs program brings together team members from diverse backgrounds including farmers, utility representatives, state and federal government staff, educators and academics, small business owners, members of non-profit and environmental groups as well as individuals interested in energy issues. Together they work to identify and implement community-scale energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across the state.