The NW Steering Committee recently reviewed the three proposals that were submitted to the team in response the NW CERT RFP.

The proposals under review included (in brief):
§ Bemidji State University proposal to evaluate the existing HVAC system @ Sattgast Hall and identify a cost effective, energy efficient alternative. The project will design a "smart" replacement system, with a summary of the design submitted to architectural planners and university administrators working on the Sattgast Hall renovation.  The project would also develop a spreadsheet or database that other entities could use to do their own energy usage/spending evaluation.

§ University of Minnesota Crookston proposal to begin a wind resource assessment, gauge campus, community and utility attitudes toward wind, and develop a draft business plan for a UMC wind project.  UMC would strive to document the process they use so that others could replicate it.  This proposal also includes work to investigate microcontrollers that could provide more affordable real-time wind data acquisition (from via previously committed dollars).

§ White Earth Land Recovery Project proposal to install energy efficiency light bulbs into tribal elderly housing on the reservation and to create a small biodiesel processing center.  The project to install CFLs would include pre- and post-installation energy usage evaluation as well as testimonials from participants.

The NW Region has dollars available from the Minnesota Project/Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources ($1,000 that must go toward energy efficiency projects and $1,000 that must go toward renewable energy projects), the Blandin Foundation ($3,200), and from the Northwest Sustainable Development Partnership (NWP).  Criteria to evaluate the proposal were listed on page 3 of the RFP
http://www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org/pdf/CERT_RFPfinal.pdf.

After thoughtful review and discussion of each proposal based on the above
reference criteria, the Steering Committee has voted to recommend the
following:

Þ    Fund Bemidji State University Sattgast Hall evaluation @ $2,600

Þ    Fund University of Minnesota Crookston wind resource evaluation proposal @ $6,400 (note: this includes $2,200 previously allocated to UMC via the IREE and the NWP).

Þ    Fund White Earth Land Recovery Project proposal to install CFLs in the homes of tribal elders @ $1,500.

After thoughtful review and discussion of each proposal based on the above
reference criteria, the Steering Committee has voted to recommend the
following:

Þ    Fund Bemidji State University Sattgast Hall evaluation @ $2,600

Þ    Fund University of Minnesota Crookston wind resource evaluation
proposal @ $6,400 (note: this includes $2,200 previously allocated to UMC
via the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment and the NWP).

Þ    Fund White Earth Land Recovery Project proposal to install CFLs in the
homes of tribal elders @ $1,500.

Distributed Generation Case Study
Aug. 30, 2001
Attending: Dave Larson, Director of Public Works, Chuck Lucken, City Administrator, Duane Tveitbakk, Northern Municipal Power Association; Paul Imbertson, UM Institute of Technology; Bill Wilke, Dave Gustafson, UM Extension - Biosystems and Ag Engineering; Jim Noyes, MVD; Dave Hoff, UMC and NWP, Linda Kingery, NWP

A great deal of progress has occurred in Fosston during the last several months. The vegetable dehydration plan, MVD, has secured services of an engineering firm to design an anaerobic digester pond to treat the process water from the plant prior to discharge to the city lagoon system. By digesting the process water, the company expects to recover 8500 cubic feet of biogas per day, which it can use to replace 10 to 20% of its natural gas requirements. Jim Noyes, General Manager of the plan, reported this option has a 10-year payback.

While electrical generation it is not feasible or appropriate in this case, there are some realized electrical savings. Other options for pre-treatment are aeration and filtration. Filtration, often used in conjunction with polymer addition offers flexibility, but has high costs and maintenance requirements, and requires energy. Aerobic degradation is of limited use for hot waste streams, and requires energy for pumps. So methane digestion is a solution that provides energy conservation for the company, and a workable solution to the city's wastewater treatment system.

The sustainability story includes several other aspects of the interaction between the community and MVD. Having a large natural gas customer in the community makes it possible for residents to have access to natural gas. A majority of the payroll from the plant supports local businesses, and many employees are residents of the city. MVD processes potatoes and carrots from the region, and supplies dehydrated product to a variety of companies.