LANSING - Unions, businesses and legislators from both parties, including Democratic leaders from both chambers, called on Gov. Jennifer Granholm to step back from her decision requiring new coal-fired electric power plants to show not only that they meet emissions requirements, but that the power they produce will be required. House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford
KALAMAZOO - Fifteen students are heading for Michigan's Thumb this week to gain a "thumbs-up" acceptance into Kalamazoo Valley Community College's first-of-its-kind-in-the-nation training academy for technicians who will work on utility-sized turbines clustered on wind farms around the world. It's part of a win-win agreement between the KVCC Wind Energy Center and the Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port
LANSING - Do you know what biodegradable plastics, clothing, bedding, and packing material all have in common? They can all be made from corn and were started as research projects funded through Michigan's corn check-off, the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan. Research is an integral part of the CMPM. State farmer dollars invested in corn
LANSING - A slow economy and a massive increase in gasoline prices helped drive an increase in mass transit ridership in 2008, a report from Environment Michigan said. Meanwhile, the Michigan Public Transit Association urged lawmakers not to cut funding for mass transit to help offset revenue losses. According to the report, "Getting On Track,"
Ann Arbor - Meadowlark Builders will feature two remodel projects at the Remodelers Home Tour on October 9-11, including Michigan's second Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design project. The first project is in its first phase of a full remodel/addition. As part of this project, Meadowlark Builders designed long-term goals for the entire house with
LANSING - Though committee members did not overtly oppose, or support, findings that power plants proposed by Consumers Energy and Wolverine Cooperative were not needed, members of the Senate Energy Policy and Public Utilities Committee did question the Public Service Commission staff's ability to forecast power needs. The PSC staff had found that projected demand
DETROIT - Understanding the process by which solar energy can be used to create an alternative to fossil fuel is the focus of $1.32 million Department of Energy grant awarded to three faculty members in the Wayne State University Department of Chemistry. Claudio Verani, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry and resident of Sterling Heights, Mich.,
WIXOM - Two companies that make energy storage devices and solar panels have reportedly reached an agreement to buy Ford Motor Co.'s huge Wixom Assembly Plant and transform it into an alternative energy park. Terms of the deal were not announced. The 50-year-old plant, which closed in 2007, will get a $725 million make over
DETROIT - The concern for preserving the environment and its resources has created a growing demand for engineers specializing in sustainable practices. Beginning Fall 2009, the Wayne State University College of Engineering is offering a graduate certificate program in sustainable engineering that will position the university at the forefront of sustainability education in southeast Michigan.
LANSING - Two more of the state's proposed coal-fired power plants may have been nixed Tuesday by reports from the Public Service Commission staff that neither Consumers Energy nor Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative had proven the need for them. Consumers has applied for a new 930 megawatt plant at its Karn-Weadock Generating Station in Hampton