Park City, UT - Park City Mountain Resort has received town approval to build a wind turbine and solar array at the top of the ski area's Silverlode chairlift.
Park City Mountain Resort (photo: FTO/Marc Guido)
Construction will take place this summer to install the 38-foot vertical axis wind turbine and 400 square-foot solar array at the 9,244 elevation level on the mountain, adjacent to the Summit House restaurant. Both are expected to be operational by September 1. An informational kiosk will also be built to educate guests on alternative energy sources and the power produced by the installation.
The project is expected to cost approximately $60,000, with half of that paid for by renewable energy credits. Combined they are anticipated to produce around 30,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is only about one percent of the resort's energy needs.
Burke Mountain, Vt., is planning to install a wind turbine this spring to help power approximately 15 percent of the ski area's electricity use. This will be the second wind turbine in Vermont, after Bolton Valley installed one in September 2009. Massachusetts' Jiminy Peak and Berkshire Eastare the only other ski areas in the U.S. that currently have operating wind turbines, and in Canada, there's just one, at Vancouver's Grouse Mountain.
Although other ski areas in Vermont are considering building turbines, few have been able to finalize plans. "We are seeing a sharp rise in interest, especially for smaller turbines -- like the one Burke is going to install, but not a lot of actual installations," said Andrew Perchlik, the director of Vermont's Clean Energy Development Fund, which helped fund Bolton and Burke's turbine. "Permitting is very stringent in Vermont and some ski areas are on federal or state land or near protected areas and that makes permitting difficult."
Burke attempted to install their 121-foot-tall turbine last fall, but winter came before they could get it up, so installation is scheduled for the coming months. Bolton, which currently has a 121-foot turbine that produces around 300,000 kilowatt hours annually, has applied for a loan to install a larger turbine, similar to the one at Jiminy Peak, which produces 4.6 million kilowatt hours each year and powers a third of the resort's electrical use.
"I do think wind turbines will be more prevalent at ski resorts in the future," says Josh Arneson, Bolton Valley's director of marketing. "Ski resorts are great locations for wind turbines because in most cases infrastructure such as roads and power lines already exist on the mountain."
When Bolton first installed the turbine in 2009, the blades were icing up during heavy snow, but this year, they added heated electrical coils inside the blades, which, according to Arneson, seemed to solve the problem. "I think that if Bolton can figure out a solution to the icing issue and Burke's turbine is a success then we will see other ski areas follow suit," says Perchlik. "I think some are sitting back to see how it goes with these other sites both technically and as well as public acceptance."
No ski areas in the Western U.S. currently have a wind turbine. "The reason, in part, is access and topography," says Auden Schendler, the vice president of sustainability at Colorado's Aspen Skiing Company and author of the book, Getting Green Done: Hard Truths from the Front Lines of the Sustainability Revolution. "There's a reason wind farms are on the plains -- you get this consistent flow of air. In the mountains, wind is too choppy, so the smaller mountains are more suited, plus you can access the peaks more easily. Also note that energy prices in the East are typically higher, meaning it's more cost effective to install turbines."
In November 2010, the Australian state of Victoria had a change in government. The Liberal-National Coalition replaced the Australian Labor Party, who had been in power for 11 years. It has already started to implement a number of environmental policies, none of which have been well received by the local environment movement.
At this point, Victoria relies on very polluting brown coal to meet almost all of its energy needs. Wind energy is the single most effective way to start to reduce greenhouse emissions in Victoria.
However, the new government has said that it intends to implement its wind farm policy – which will close large areas of the state to future wind projects. It would be tragic to see an end to further development of this job rich, low emissions industry.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION!!!
Please email a note to: Hon. Ted Baillieu Premier of Victoria ted.baillieu@parliament.vic.gov.au
Hon. Ryan Smith Minister for Environment and Climate Change Ryan.Smith@parliament.vic.gov.au
Key communication points:
Congratulate them on their election to government
Urge them to re-consider their policy on wind farms
Remind them that the Clean Energy Council (CEC), which is the industry group for the renewables industry, has already noted that if the Coalition policy was enacted, it would put “thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of energy projects … at risk”.
State your support in wind farms and renewables in general, and you expect any responsible government to encourage the development of these industries, not close them down.
Any personal connection and motivations to ensure we stop climate change. Global warming is expected to impact greatly on our alpine areas, and with the loss of a regular snow season, local economies will be devastated.
Remind them that climate science tells us that we only have this decade to turn global emissions around. We will not be able to do this if we stop the expansion of the wind farm sector.
Mountain Rider’s Alliance (MRA) Project Manager, Dave Scanlan, will be outlining a proposal for the Manitoba Mountain Ski Area Restoration Project at the Girdwood Library on Thursday, February 24th at 6 p.m. Following the presentation, a question and answer session will be held and community feedback will be encouraged.
Manitoba Mountain is located at Mile 49 on the Seward Highway at the site of the Historic Manitoba Ski Area and the Glacier Ski Lodge that operated from 1941 to 1959. The earliest recorded history of skiing on the Kenai Peninsula was in 1790. Anchorage is located 90 minutes away and there is a population base of 325,000 within a three-hour drive. At a base elevation of 1,250 feet, this region of the Chugach Mountains receives an estimated 350-550 inches of snow annually.
Manitoba Ski Area is a MRA pilot project designed to be small on infrastructure and big on mountain. The proposed lifts are surface tows designed to give riders supreme access to and from world class high angle backcountry terrain, while at the same time providing excellent beginner, intermediate, and advanced inbounds skiing experience.
Additional plans include creating and maintaining Nordic, snow shoe, snow machine, and dogsled trail systems through the historic mining sites of the Summit Lake Recreation Corridor, helping to support the year round operation of Summit Lake Lodge.
“One of the Manitoba Mountain Ski Area Restoration Project's primary goals is to bring economic stability to the communities of Hope, Sunrise, Moose Pass, and Cooper Landing by creating a centrally located destination to create local jobs and foster additional private sector economic activity by redeveloping the downhill, and Nordic ski opportunities in the Summit Lake Recreation Corridor,” states Project Manager Dave Scanlan.
Both wind and hydro energy creation opportunities exist in the area. The State of Alaska has set an ambitious goal to supply 50% of the state's energy from renewables by 2025. This goal has been laid out in the new House Bill 306, passed in June 2010.
MRA is an emerging group of like-minded global ski and outdoor enthusiasts dedicated to sustainable, low impact ski centers with an emphasis on the community, environment and skiing. More information about the MRA is available at http://mountainridersalliance.com/. MRA will be offering reasonably priced investment shares to both the local and global ski communities to help fund the revival of Manitoba Mountain.
“We have entered the preliminary stages of the permitting process and while we expect this to be a lengthy multi-year process, we are fully committed. We will be hosting many public outreach meetings to solicit the public's comments and ideas to assist us in sculpting the best possible facility with community involvement,” said Scanlan.
Mountain Rider’s Alliance has forged partnerships with many respected organizations that share the same values. Some of these partners include Protect Our Winters, Winter Wildlands Alliance, Sustentator, High Fives and Ski Duck.
Think about how much you drive and fly to your favorite shred spots each year? If you're like me you probably rack up a good amount of miles which is causing a good amount of carbon dioxide emissions (I drive 400 miles/weekend to get to Tahoe). Good thing that TerraPass, a social enterprise based in San Francisco, CA provides carbon offsetting products available to individuals and businesses that lets you take responsibility for your environmental impact and reduce it. TerraPass helps you calculate how many pounds of carbon you emit and then provides you with a number of carbon offset packages. TerraPass uses proceeds from member purchases to fund greenhouse gas reduction projects such as wind farms and methane digesters. TerraPass products include a Road TerraPass to offset car emissions, a Flight TerraPass to offset airplane emissions, a Home TerraPass for home energy use, a Business TerraPass for organizations, and a Wedding TerraPass for weddings and other events. For more information and to purchase go to www.terrapass.com.
Everyone needs to check out Grün [pronounced: grew-en; meaning: green, ecologist] an indy company run by a small group of snowboarders and skateboarders. They are a new eco-ethical board wear company doing way more than the majority of companies to ensure their products are 100% eco friendly and ethically produced. Grün takes the raw garments then prints them by hand using water based inks. Likewise they used organic hand loomed cotton for clothing labels, and even the hang tags are made from re-purposed cardboard. The extent of what they do to remain truly eco-ethical is far in excess of the half measures employed by the rest of the market. Below is a detailed look into Grün’s environmentally aware practices and eco credentials.
100% ORGANIC PRODUCTS
100% organic product, produced under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and certified by Control Union and The Soil Association. The certification encompasses the farming, production and distribution, ensuring full traceability of every product. Grün's Earth-Positive based range is free from genetically modified organisms.
FAIR TRADE PRACTICES
Under the organic standard, farmers and agricultural workers are protected by stringent social criteria, total traceability across the entire supply chain, and also by the ban on the use of poisonous chemicals that can severely damage the health of farmers and their families. These standards also free poor farmers from third world debt to chemical companies on the ‘pesticide treadmill’.
JUSTICE FOR WORKERS
To help tackle the social injustice often seen in manufacturing, commonly known as sweatshop labour, Grün goes further, making transparent the manufacturing supply chain through an independent audit by the Fair Wear Foundation, which
promotes fair labour conditions in the clothing industry.
LOW CARBON
Made in manufacturing facilities in India powered by wind turbines, from low-impact organic cotton, and is distributed through carbon neutral warehouses and offices in that use only renewable green electricity.
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
Certified by the Oeko-Tex 100 Standard, Class I. The Oeko-Tex Standard is a guarantee of the safety of textiles and dyestuffs to human health and to the environment. It also means we take more care in adopting environmentally friendly production methods throughout the manufacturing process.
LOOK AFTER OUR WATER
The processing of the dye effluent takes place in a controlled closed-loop purification system that uses treatment ponds, sand filtration and reversed osmosis to convert the waste water into clean water.
LOW WATER FOOTPRINT
It can take more than 20,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of cotton, equivalent to a single T-shirt and a pair of jeans. That’s why we chose to work in a region that receives up to 95% of its water from the monsoon rain. This was an important consideration for us, as the monsoon rain reduces the need for large-scale irrigation projects normally associated with conventional cotton farming, which often deprive local villages of scarce water resources by draining lakes and rivers.
PICK YOUR COTTON CAREFULLY
We guarantee that we do not use cotton from Uzbekistan while the use of forced child labour is endemic. This follows the recommendations of the Environmental Justice Foundation's ‘Clean Cotton Campaign’. The complete traceability of certified organic cotton allows us to make this guarantee.
TRANSPORTATION
‘No Airfreight’ policy. We use containerized ocean shipping, thus the carbon footprint generated by transporting our apparel to Europe, Japan and the USA is negligible, more like a fingerprint, less than 1% of the total. We cannot solve the world’s transportation and energy security issues, but we can ensure that our own methods do nothing to contribute to environmental damage, social injustice or climate change.
HAND FINISHED
Finally we hand print all our tees using non-toxic, non-hazardous, water based eco inks. This means that any spillage can simply washed away, and misprints can easily be remedied without wastage.
Just as importantly it means our gear doesn't pump synthetics into the environment. The ink becomes part of the fabric as opposed to sitting on top of the fabric. The benefit of this is that water based inks will not crack or peel off over time as with PVC based inks that have a raised and rubbery or plastic feel to them.
Lucky Snowboards, producers of environmentally conscious snowboards launched a new website today powered by 100% wind energy (energy credits). Lucky Snowboards is committed to giving consumers the highest quality boards while saving the earth at the same time. Their boards are nothing less than high performance - super strong and super light, full wrap high carbon steel edge, solid Bamboo cores, and P-Tex sidewalls. All boards are made in the US improving quality and the American economy.
Arbor is one of my favorite board companies. Not only do they produce a wide range of durable, functional, and beautiful boards they have been working to be more environmentally friendly for over 15 years. Their boards are made of sustainable woods like koa, poplar, and bamboo. Each year the company donates 5% of its profits to an organization such as: The Nature Conservatory, The Rain Forest Action Network, and American Forests. In addition, they are also working with True Offsets to help restore forest lands and offset more carbon emissions then they are actually responsible for, making Arbor a “less-than-zero carbon emitter”. All of their advertising is printed with soy based inks which make them easier to recycle. And they also buy wind credits to help offset the electricity used at their headquarters in Venice, CA. If you’re in the market for a new board add Arbor to your list!
It's been a big week for Berkshire East and Green Wax.
On Sunday, Berkshire East raised a 900kw wind turbine, that will produce 100% of our electricity for the ski area.
Monday, Green Wax got the call from Resort Owner, Jon Schaefer pledging his support by switching 100% to Green Wax;
"By exclusively utilizing Green Wax in our tuning shop and rental shop, Berkshire East is making a real commitment to our local environment. We have understood for a long time that ski wax was one of the industry's 'dirty little secrets' but now Green Wax gives us the opportunity to make a real difference."
"Making the decision to use Green Wax was easy; when comparing three comparable products, in terms of cost and performance, and only one is 100% sustainably produced and more importantly 100% biodegradable, Berkshire East will choose Green Wax 100% of the time."
In addition to their recent investment of 3 new fuel efficient groomers, which utilize the most efficient snow making technology available, they heat all of their buildings with the wood cut on-site, have increased lighting efficiency by about half in the past 7 years, and are planning a 1 megawatt solar installation to be completed by next summer.
Bolton Valley Resort, a locally owned and operated family ski and snowboard area, has constructed the first wind turbine at a Vermont ski area.
The turbine is located near the top of the resort's Vista Quad lift in an existing clearing adjacent to the ski patrol hut. It produces in excess of 300,000 kilowatts of power annually, the equivalent of electricity consumed by 40-to-45 Vermont households.
The turbine, a Northwind 100 manufactured by Northern Power Systems of Barre, VT measures 121 feet in height from the ground to the top of the tower. The distance from ground to the top of the blade is 156 feet. Each blade is coated with Teflon to protect against icing. It is the same process used on turbines in the Bering Sea. The turbine will not be obviously visible from beyond five miles away from the site.
The turbine will be set up to feed excess power that is not consumed by Bolton Valley into the grid through the Vermont net metering program. It is the first turbine at a Vermont ski area and just the second at a ski area in the United States.
Hopefully more ski resorts in the US and around the world will follow suit!
Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe is installing three Windspire vertical wind turbines this week on the north side of its Winters Creek Lodge.
The Windspire renewable energy sources will use wind power to provide electricity, offsetting a portion of the new lodge’s electrical costs. The electricity will be funneled back into the region’s power grid and will also qualify Mt. Rose for rebates.
Spokesperson Kayla Anderson said the wind turbines should cover lighting costs for Winters Creek Lodge during the upcoming season.
Anderson said the wind turbines function optimally with winds at 26 miles per hour, and that they'll stop spinning when winds hit about 34 mph. The structures are designed to withstand gusts up to 160 mph. The average wind speed at Mt. Rose’s Slide Bowl is 14 mph.
The Windspires installed at Mt. Rose have been extended to a height of 33 feet, to account for deep snowpack.
Anderson said the resort was hoping to get the wind turbines in last year when Winters Creek Lodge was first built.
“We’ve been working all summer to get these up,” Anderson said. “It’s really exciting that it’s actually happening and we’re making it work.”
Anderson said the wind turbines are another step in the resort’s effort to consider the environment and be energy efficient, and added Mt. Rose should start seeing a full return on its investment in about seven years.
The installation process can be viewed online on the resort’s webcam at skirose.com.
