Community - Scale Renewable Energy Workshop

Generating Commonwealth for Great Plains Communities

Community - Scale
Renewable Energy Workshop

Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Hereford Community Center
(on Park Avenue, across from Dameron Park)
Hereford, Texas

Purpose of the Workshop

- To provide information and resources on renewable energy options from local utilities, renewable energy businesses, community colleges and homeowners.

- To provide cost/benefit analyses on potential applications, and explore incentives through the Farm Bill, Clean Energy credits, tax credits, etc.

- To offer afternoon tours of local installations that are net-metering with wind and solar-produced electricity.

- To encourage communication and collaboration to build more possibilities for renewable energy in our region.

For questions or more information about this workshop, contact Darryl Birkenfeld, Executive Director, Ogallala Commons, at 806-945-2255 or e-mail: darrylb@amaonline.com

Workshop Schedule

8:00 am	Registration, Exhibits, & Refreshments at Hereford Community Center
8:30 am	Welcome & Introductions Darryl Birkenfeld, Director, Ogallala Commons Steve Horrell, Deaf Smith Rural Electric Cooperative, Hereford, TX
8:45 am	Wind Energy: Terms, Definition, and Some Overview Byron Neal, USDA-Bushland Station
9:00 am	A View from the Grid: Renewable Energy and your local Utility Utility Bob Bryant, Golden Spread Cooperative, Amarillo, TX Sherry Kunka, Xcel Energy, Amarillo, TX
9:40 am	Renewable Energy & Net-Metering for Residents, Businesses, and Communities: A Practitioners Panel Wind Robert Dillar, farmer, Hereford, TX Tony & Dottie Neal, homeowners & cattle raisers, Bovina, TX Solar Darryl Birkenfeld, homeowner, Nazareth, TX David Stebbins, instructor and homeowner, Amarillo, TX Methane & Hydrogen Mission Dairy, Hereford, TX Bill Paetzold, farmer, Hereford, TX Bio-diesel Bob Mailander, Director, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union-Coop Dev. Center, Denver, CO
10:45 am	Break & Exhibit Viewing
11:45 am	Payback Period, Cost/Benefit Analysis: When do Renewable Energy and Efficiency Projects make Sense? What are the Resources? (Government Programs and Industry Developments) A Panel Presentation Section 9006 Program of the Farm Bill, Green Tags, and Clean Renewable Energy Bonds Allocation Tony Frank, Renewable Energy Development, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union-Coop Dev. Center, Denver, CO Making the Business Case for Distributed Wind Charles Newcomb, Entegrity Wind Systems Inc., Denver, CO Tax Credits & Rebate Programs Dave Regal, Earth Solar, Amarillo, TX
1:00 pm	Field Tours by chartered bus Tour I: Small-scale Wind Turbines & Hydrogen Travel down US Hwy. 60 to Bovina (42 miles) to the residence of Tony & Dottie Neal, to tour their Southwest Windpower SkyStream 3.7- a compact utility-connected wind generator designed especially for residential homes and small business. Afterwards, return to Hereford area to visit a Bergey 10kw turbine and a hydrogen electrolysis system at Bill Paetzold's farm. Tour II: Hydrogen, Wind, & Solar Travel outside of Hereford to Bill Paetzold's farm to view a Bergey 10KW turbine, as well as his small-scale electrolysis system that converts water to hydrogen. Next, the tour will move 30 miles to Nazareth to view a grid-tied 3kw solar electricity system, plus a thermal unit for heating water at Darryl Birkenfeld & Joann Starr's all- electric and passive solar home, Casa La Entereza
4:00 pm	Buses return to Hereford Community Center and workshop adjourns

Registration: $35 per person (includes lunch & tour)
(Participants can register online at www.ogallalacommons.org under the Events button on the homepage.
Anyone registering online must also pay online with credit card)

Make checks payable to: High Plains RC&D, Inc.
(fiscal agent for the workshop)

Mail to: High Plains RC &D, 1306 W. 9th, Friona, TX, 79035

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    I am registering to attend: March 13th Renewable Energy Workshop

    In the afternoon, I prefer to attend (mark with an "X"): Tour I      Tour II

    Name ______________________________________________________________________

    Address ______________________________________________________________________

    Phone ______________________________________________________________________

    Email ______________________________________________________________________

Accommodations

The Holiday Inn Express, located at 1400 West First Street (off US Hwy 60), can be contacted at 806-364-3322 for reservations. There are also a variety of motels off US Hwy. 60. Or to locate other motels, log on to: www.herefordtx.org

Ogallala Commons, convener of this workshop, is a resource development network offering leadership and education to incubate common wealth for communities in the High Plains-Ogallala Aquifer region. To learn more, visit our website: www.ogallalacommons.org

Exhibit Booths

Exhibit Booth rental space is available for the workshop at $50 per booth (fee includes one registration). Contact Darryl Birkenfeld at 806-945-2255 if interested.