by Bruce Goodman

As Michigan charts its economic future it needs to make certain it identifies and leverages its natural assets.  In the past it has used its timber resources to foster the furniture industry, the special character of its sands to foster the sand casting foundry industry, and its abundant water to foster water intensive manufacturing.  Now it is time to use its central location and access to the Great Lakes, the Mississippi, and the Atlantic to foster manufacturing of the next generation of large wind energy equipment.  Windturbine components and finished wind energy goods are bulky, and shipping them is expensive.  Rail and over-the-road transportation are increasingly a limiting factor in how big these can be. So transportation in and out of our state by ship and barge would provide an economic and logistical solution.  The port cities of Michigan need to consider how to take advantage of this confluence of shipping advantages and the state’s manufacturing talent to kick start the location of wind turbine industry(s) right here.  As the only state with access to four of the five Great Lakes, we need to make lemonade out of lemons.  Our peninsular geography can turn intermodal transportation (rail, truck, barge) into an asset.  The logic and logistics seem obvious.  Bring in the big cranes!

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 by Bruce Goodman

The Great Lakes Wind Council submitted two recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature early in March month.  The first suggests the process to regulate offshore wind energy development on the bottomlands of Michigan’s portion of the Great Lakes.  The second addresses transmission issues for offshore projects.  Both were styled as draft concepts to help inform the ongoing public dialogue and to be refined in the legislative process.

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 by Bruce Goodman

A total of 636 solar panels now cover the roof of the Padnos Iron & Metal Company’s plastic and paper recycling station in Wyoming, Michigan.  The 150 KW project was installed by Cascade Renewable Energy of Grand Rapids.   Electricity generated by the project is being purchased at 45¢ per kilowatt hour for the next twelve years by Consumers Energy under its Experimental Advanced Renewable Program.

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by Bruce Goodman

The footprint for the wind project proposed by Scandia Wind Offshore LLC has been modified to two 500 MW offshore fields, and a 125 MW onshore project. In response to a concerted “social media” effort by offshore wind proponents in Muskegon, the revised plan would keep the northern ½ of the original project (removing that portion closest to Pentwater) and relocate the other ½ six miles off the coast of Grand Haven. The onshore project would be at the Muskegon County Wastewater Management System. Scandia suggests that the size of the proposed turbines makes importing difficult, and that the turbines needed at the proposed wind farms creates a tremendous home market for a Michigan OEM.

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 by Bruce Goodman

Research at U of M has led to a recent discovery in understanding how to chemically break down the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into a useful product–carbon monoxide. The studies have figured out a way to efficiently make this chemically occur using sunlight. Carbon monoxide is a desirable chemical that can be used in processes to produce electricity or hydrogen. Alternatively, it has significant fuel value and can be converted by catalysts into hydrocarbons or methanol for use as a liquid fuel. It also serves as a source of energy and biomass for microbes.

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 by Bruce Goodman

The RFP for the GVSU offshore meteorological tower and research platform in Lake Michigan was issued on April 15. With $2.7 million in seed money, and a partnership with U of M’s Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute, the RFP (posted at www.gvsu.edu/marec) is seeking a private partner to take financial and management responsibility for siting, designing, and constructing the project. The project will collect the first year-round offshore wind data for Lake Michigan.

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