Michigan Sustainable Homes and Business Tour, part of the ASES National Solar Tour, is Saturday, October 2, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. If you’re in the Lansing area, come see my PV system. http://www.glrea.org/events/solarBuildingTour2010/tours/
Time Has Run Out for State Rebates for Furnaces and Hot Water Heaters! They’re gone. We’re at 83% for clothes washers, refrigerators, and dishwashers. More than 85,000 Michigan citizens have received rebates through the Michigan Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program.
To date, the program has spurred over $63.8 million in consumer spending in Michigan and generated more than $6.5 million in rebates to Michigan consumers. www.mirebates.com or 866-621-8782 for refrigerators, clothes washers, and dishwashers.
Coulomb Technologies has unveiled its first public electric vehicle charging station at NextEnergy in Detroit. Coulomb is installing hundreds of free ChargePoint America stations across the country made possible by a $15 million federal stimulus grant. The company said it also has plans for stations in Ann Arbor, Lansing and Grand Rapids. The Michigan Public Service Commission on the south side of Lansing now has two charging stations.
Michigan Home Energy Loan Program provides easy, affordable financing to homeowners for energy saving improvements. Visit www.michigansaves.org to learn more and find a Michigan Saves authorized contractor. The website provides a one-stop shop for customers, contractors, and lenders.
Clean Energy Coalition and Sean Reed were mentioned in the Sept. 20 issue of Time Magazine. CEC helped the City of Ann Arbor with a hydraulic hybrid recycling truck. The energy from deceleration is stored in a pressurized tank called an accumulator, which is full of hydraulic fluid and nitrogen. When the truck starts moving, pressure released from the tank drives the wheels, saving the diesel engine from kicking in. Annual fuel savings should reach 1,000 gallons of diesel per truck per year, about a 30% improvement. Also the truck should need only one expensive brake job a year, not four.
Village of Spring Lake has retrofitted 91 streetlights with energy efficient LED lamps. The project received a $48,800 grant from the state’s Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program. The village replaced 175W bulbs with 55W Sylvania LED lamps on decorative streetlights. Michigan has obligated $17.6 million to 128 EECBG projects to assist smaller communities. These grants support energy efficiency measures in municipal buildings and street lighting, creating or expanding community recycling programs, and installing renewable energy systems. List of selected projects and funding at www.michigan.gov/energyoffice. Look under EECBG, What’s New.
Largest Wind Farm in the state will be built near Breckenridge and operational late next year. Detroit Edison will purchase 200 MW of energy created by 125 wind turbines. The Michigan Public Service Commission has approved DTE to buy the power from Invenergy Wind. The wind farm will have the capacity to power more than 50,000 homes.
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe will install their first wind turbine this fall in Mt. Pleasant. It will be a commercial three-bladed wind turbine from Heron Wind Manufacturing and will be located near the Elijah Elk Cultural Center. http://www.heronwindmfg.com/
Offshore Wind Energy Potential has been estimated by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to be over 4 million MW, four times the entire capacity that is currently online in this country (1 million MW). The state with the highest potential is Hawaii (637 thousand MW), followed by California (587 thousand MW) and Michigan (483 thousand MW). http://www.evwind.es/noticias.php?id_not=7537
President Obama congratulated A123 Systems in Livonia for opening the largest lithium ion automotive battery manufacturing plant on the continent in a surprise phone call during the company’s grand opening. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, U.S. Representatives Sander Levin and John Dingell, and Energy Secretary Steven Chu addressed the hundreds of employees and guests. A123 Systems received a $249 million DOE grant and $125 million in state incentives from the 21st Century Job Fund. A123 Systems makes a prismatic cell, a thin white rectangular battery about the size of a license plate. It produces 20 amp hours and 66 watt hours. 300 to 400 of the prismatic cells are needed for one electric car battery pack.
DTE Energy has announced a contest seeking customer-made videos illustrating ways to save energy. A grand prize of $1,500 toward an energy efficient Energy Star appliance will be awarded to the winner. A second prize of $1,000 toward an Energy Star appliance will also be awarded and 10 contestants will receive honorable mention prizes of home energy efficiency kits valued at $25. Contestants can review contest rules and submit their videos at www.dteenergy.com/videocontest. Entries are being accepted through Oct. 15 and will be posted so viewers can vote for their favorites. Voting will end Oct. 22 with winners announced Oct. 29.
General Motors has announced an agreement with Zurich’s ABB Group to work together on pilot projects for re-using the batteries from the Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle. The two companies are collaborating to determine how the Volt’s 16-kWh lithium-ion batteries can provide stationary electric grid storage systems.
Two Lansing Firms have won funding from DOE’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) programs. Niowave received $300,000 in phase one grants for three projects involving superconducting particle accelerators and their components, plus $1.75 million in phase two grants for two more projects. Technova received a grant of $954,510. Technova works in materials science and will use the grant to develop sustainable building construction products through nanotechnology. Researchers will work with phase-changing materials that absorb energy during the day and release heat at night.
Michigan will receive nearly $5 million to boost energy efficiency at restaurants and food retailers. The money comes from a $28.5 million fund through the DOE State Energy Program, to boost programs in 12 states and territories. In Michigan’s case, the state will use the money to create a “self-sustaining financing program” that will help business owners retrofit cooling and cooking equipment. It’ll be administered through Michigan SAVES. The nonprofit aims to get at least 2% of the state’s food businesses — stores and restaurants — to upgrade to energy efficient equipment by 2013. http://www.michigansaves.org/
Solar Homes Workshop will be held at Michigan Energy Options in E. Lansing on October 13, 6:30-8:00 PM. This May the time was right for me to have Luma Resources http://lumaresources.com/ install a 1.3 kW photovoltaic system on my roof. I will share my experiences and discuss 10 Things To Do Before You Buy Solar including looking at your energy use, becoming more energy efficient, doing background research, evaluating your site, and economics. www.michiganenergyoptions.org
East Michigan Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers will be meeting on November 9th in Room C406 of the Alfred Taubman Student Service Center at Lawrence Tech. Meeting is Free to Chapter Members and $25 for guests. Meeting begins at 5 pm with dinner at 6 pm followed by a presentation. www.emaee.org
ISO Energy Management Standard (ISO 50001) offers a mechanism to help end users assess, measure and manage their energy consumption. Once finalized in 2011, the ISO 50001 Standard will be able to help a wide variety of organizations in multiple sectors implement an energy management system for continuous improvement. http://ase.org/efficiencynews/energy-management-standard-coming-your-organization-ready.
Xcel Energy has released preliminary results from its wind-to-battery storage project in Minnesota. In October 2008, Xcel began testing a one-MW battery to demonstrate its ability to store wind energy. The battery installation is connected to a nearby 11 MW wind farm. Collectively, the 20 50-kW battery modules are roughly the size of two semi trailers and weigh approximately 80 tons. They are able to store about 7.2 MWH’s, enough electricity to power 500 homes for more than 7 hours. The sodium-sulfur battery is commercially available, but this is the first U.S. application of the battery as a direct wind energy storage device. www.xcelenergy.com
Exelon Corp. has purchased the renewable energy unit of Deere & Co. for an estimated $860 million. The acquisition gives Exelon 735 MW of wind capacity to add to its clean energy portfolio. John Deere owned the two existing wind farms in the Thumb.
Certified Energy Manager (CEM) 5 day course and Exam will be offered in Detroit October 25–29 at Westin Book Cadillac, 1114 Washington Blvd. Go to: https://www.aeeprograms.com/seminars/calendar.htm
Click here to be introduced to DELEG.
Source: Michigan Dept. of Energy, Labor, & Economic Growth (DELEG)
Prepared By: John Sarver
