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Michigan: Green Energy Ground Zero?

The Detroit Free Press reports that the State of Michigan is planning to spend $2 billion in bond money in the next decade to ensure that it becomes the nation's alternative energy hub. "We want Michigan to be the state that lays claim to this emerging sector," said Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Research into alternative energy and renewable fuels is expected to be a key component of the governor's 21st Century Jobs Fund program. Technologies being explored include hydrogen fuel cells, biodiesel, ethanol, solar and nuclear. The article also talks about how NextEnergy, a public sector/private sector partnership in Detroit that was started under the Engler administration, is being touted as a model. Michigan currently has 51 biomass plants, 12 photovoltaic facilities, 1 ethanol plant and 7 wind-powered plants.

The Detroit News reports that soaring gas prices, new technologies and buy-in from the Oval Office have experts believing that ethanol biofuels will be powering vehicles in as little as six years. Michigan, home of the Big Three automakers and rich farmland that is already the second-biggest income generator in the state, could be uniquely position to take advantage of this. The Biomass Conversion Laboratory at Michigan State University has researched how to cheaply produce ethanol fuel from fast-growing crops like switchgrass or plant debris. Michigan farmers have one ethanol plant in production in Caro and four more planned to open in 2007. Environmentalists warn that modern farming has already made land only 50% as rich in organic matter as when the country was founded and say that removing plant debris to use as biomass fuel could further degrade the quality of the soil.

Read MICHIGAN'S $2-BILLION INITIATIVE: State aims to become nation's alternative energy hub in the Freep
Read Could biofuels be a bonanza for state? in the Detroit News
NextEnergy web site

Posted/updated Feb 13, 2006
by Andrew McFarlane (Absolute Michigan)