SAN DIEGO, Ca. - Start-up Sapphire Energy is promising an innovation that sounds as miraculous as a water-to-wine transformation. On Wednesday, the company took the covers off what it calls green crude - a liquid fuel chemically identical to gasoline but, not dependent on either a food source or agricultural land. Even better, it promises
LANSING - Legislation implementing the Great Lakes compact - to give the world's largest freshwater watershed greater protection from possible diversions as well as provide new rules governing water bottling operations and internal diversions - passed the Michigan Senate and House unanimously on Wednesday. However, the Legislature did not act on some of the more
LANSING - Rep. Jeff Mayes (D-Bay City), chair of the Michigan House Agriculture Committee, said Wednesday that lawmakers in the House and Senate are still working out details of a legislative package aimed at nurturing the state's alternative fuels industry. But the panel did move forward with reporting two bills that would extend the state
LANSING �?? Michigan could designate five new renaissance zones for companies in the business of making fuel from cellulosic materials under legislation reported unanimously by the House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday. Republican members on the panel originally opposed HB 5746 , because it would designate six of the current energy renaissance zones for cellulosic firms.
ANN ARBOR �?? If you have old personal computers, speakers, monitors, printers, phones, TVs and other similar electronic gadgets gathering dust, then you�??re going to want to hear about the e-Waste Recycling event May 10 in Ann Arbor. The good folks at the Ann Arbor Public Schools and the Climate Savers Computing Initiative@the University of
LANSING - The package of bills recently passed the Michigan House to increase investment in electric generation in the state, and particularly in renewable power, will not meet that goal, the American Wind Energy Association said in a letter to Governor Jennifer Granholm and Sen. Bruce Patterson (R-Canton), whose committee is now considering the legislation.
LANSING - Soundly turning down attempts to trim its provisions, the Michigan Senate approved bills giving targeted tax breaks to Hemlock Semiconductor for a potential expansion of its solar energy panel manufacturing business. The bills providing credits worth $35 million a year for the company's high energy use were sent to the House, which had
LANSING - The number of agricultural renaissance zones in Michigan would be increased by five to 18, under a bill that won unanimous approval of the Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday. The zones would provide special tax breaks for operations of facilities creating ethanol from woody waste. The bill (SB 1122 ) was made more
LANSING - Legislation that would cap Michigan electric choice at 10 percent of the loads of the two largest utilities ? plus allow them to build the interest charges on a new power plant into the rate base if they can show need - could be introduced in the Senate by week's end. Rep. Frank
DETROIT - DTE Energy has issued a Request for Proposal to purchase Michigan-based renewable energy for the company's GreenCurrents renewable energy program. GreenCurrents provides DTE Energy's 2.2 million electric customers the option of choosing environmentally-friendly renewable energy for their homes and businesses. More than 8,000 customers have signed up for GreenCurrents since its inception last