1/27/2012
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
In May 2011, in front of 40 of Michigan’s top leaders in clean energy manufacturing, Governor Snyder presented the first Reinventing Michigan Award to Energetx Composites. Having waited impatiently for four months, this group of entrepreneurs (ready to unleash their economic gardening skills, resources, and innovation) asked the Governor for his energy policy. Answer: his energy policy would be forthcoming “in the fall”. In August, when Valerie Brader was named the state’s energy policy officer, Mike Finney stated “Energy concerns are at the center of our economic future, whether we are talking about its cost and availability or job creation and new business potential in green energy manufacturing.” Then word went out that the Governor’s energy policy statement would be pushed to the first quarter of 2012. More waiting for those concerned about: RPS, standby rates, distributed energy, bioenergy, offshore wind, deregulation, customer choice, coal-fired generation, solar manufacturing, and advanced energy storage. The State of the State message last week yielded another setback: energy policy is being pushed off until “this fall”. Michigan has been treading water on energy policy for over a year. We are in a policy twilight zone. Elected officials need to hear from the clean energy manufacturing community now. Policy delayed is policy denied.
Tags:
advanced energy storage systems,
alternative energy,
biofuels,
biomass,
energy policy,
green energy,
lithium ion batteries,
Michigan alternative energy,
MPSC Renewable Portfolio Standards groundrules,
solar energy,
wind energy
Watt's New? Michigan Energy News |
Bruce Goodman |
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1/11/2012
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
Dow Corning Corporation will soon have a bio-mass energy facility built at its Midland location which will supply steam and up to 40 MW of electricity. To be owned and operated by Midland Power Station, formerly Cirque Energy, the electricity and steam will be generated through the gasification of such feedstock as tree waste, energy crops and agricultural waste. Experimentation with ten test plots of various perennial energy crops has begun as employees recently planted giant miscanthus, switch grass, big bluestem, Indian grass, sorghum, willow, and poplar trees on adjacent properties. ”It saves money; it saves the environment, ” explains Cameron Fryzel, a summer intern working on the project.
11/19/2011
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
In October the Dow Chemical Company introduced its PowerHouse™ Solar Shingle in Colorado, with sales in twelve other states to follow in 2012. D.R. Horton Inc., the largest homebuilder in the U.S. with operations in 26 states, is committing to install the building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) product on 50 new homes in Spring Mesa, Colorado. Each roof will provide 3 KW of nameplate electricity. The three-part solar roofing system package includes an array of shingles, an energy monitoring system, and an inverter to convert direct current to alternating current. The PowerHouse™ solar shingle is made in Midland.
11/4/2011
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. is selling its Renewafuel operations near Marquette and returning its $500,000 Community Development Block Grant to Marquette County. The plant has been up and running, producing high-energy, low emission biofuel cubes from wood and agricultural feed stocks designed to help meet renewable portfolio standards and/or air emission limits. Before shutting down, the plant delivered its first supply of biofuel cubes in July to the Marquette Board of Light and Power as a coal substitute.
10/14/2011
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Battle Creek has signed a contract with Nexterra Systems Corp. of Vancouver, British Columbia, to design and construct a biomass gasification system to provide heat and power. The 28 MMBtu/hour project will supply 14,000 pounds of steam per hour and 2 MW of electricity, with greenhouse gas emissions being reduced by 80 percent. The electrical production will furnish about 85 percent of the medical center’s demand. The combined heat and power unit will use locally-sourced residual biomass.
8/10/2011
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
Michigan State University Extension Office and the operator of Detroit Metropolitan and Willow Run Airports are partnering to grow, harvest and process bioenergy crops. Demonstrating a commitment to sustainable aviation, the project will initially utilize 3 acres of the 1,700 acres available to grow crops such as canola and oriental mustard seed. Airlines and ground support vehicles at the international airport use more than one million gallons of jet fuel each day. Partial support for the project is provided by a $476,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation; the grant also covers other potential sites for bioenergy crops, such as vacant urban lots and highway right-of-ways. MSU Extension will manage the project.
7/26/2011
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
By a 6-0 vote, the Mason County Planning Commission approved the special use permit for the $232 million Lake Winds Energy Park to be built by Consumers Energy. The project, to be located in Riverton and Summit townships, will have 56 turbines and produce 100 MW of electricity. Expected to be operational in 2012, White Construction will build the project which will employ Vestas’ V100-1.8 MW wind turbines. Consumers Energy has signed leases or lease options for 309 parcels, and is considering four alternative layouts for the wind farm. Meanwhile, the company is continuing to develop its 150 MW Cross Winds Energy Park in Tuscola County.
7/4/2011
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
The efficiency of plants capturing the energy of sun is between one and four percent. Contrast that to some man-made photovoltaic solar cells which are more than ten percent efficient. One reason for the difference is that as living organisms, plants must shed up to eighty percent of absorbed solar energy to avoid killing the plant itself. Michigan State University researchers believe that through bio-engineering plants could store more solar energy. By splicing the light-absorbing characteristics of a species of bacteria into plants, light from a different part of the solar spectrum would be absorbed, which could double the light-absorbing capability of individual plants. All this brings us closer to energy independence, something the nation has been seeking since the 1970s.
6/29/2011
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
NOVI Energy is developing the Fremont Community Digester in Fremont. Scheduled to begin operating in 2012, the digester will produce biogas, compost, and a dilute stream of plant nutrients for fertilizers. The feedstock is expected to be food industry processing wastes, syrups, dairy products, farm residues, pre- and post-consumer food residuals, ethanol production byproducts, and industrial glycerin and alcohols. The biogas will be combusted in a reciprocating internal combustion engine to produce 3.10 MW of electricity which Consumers Power has contracted to purchase.
3/1/2011
by Bruce Goodman, Energy Lawyer
The main events for the second annual Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) Conference start tomorrow, March 1. I have checked into the Gaylord National Convention Center Hotel and perused the agenda. How exciting! Topics ranging from rare earths to advanced fuels to zero carbon power will be discussion topics. This is America ingenuity at its best. Efforts to attract talent, both foreign and domestic, to the energy challenge. Funding cutting edge research and development, knowing that some will fail miserably, but hoping a few ideas succeed spectacularly. It is Sputnik time again for the United States. Let’s hope we respond as successfully.
Tags:
advanced energy storage systems,
alternative energy,
ARRA,
biodiesel,
biofuels,
biomass,
carbon neutral,
carbon sequestering,
climate change,
coal fired power plant,
energy efficiency,
energy policy,
global warming,
green energy,
greenhouse gases,
lithium ion batteries,
offshore wind,
renewable energy,
wind energy
Watt's New? Michigan Energy News |
Bruce Goodman |
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