Echo

Greenville joins with United Solar Ovonic LLC on a solar powered future

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(MI) Grand Rapids Press – The quest for cheaper, cleaner energy has city and school officials partnering with United Solar Ovonic LLC on a $36 million project to convert their facilities to solar power. “The rationale goes well beyond cutting utility costs. It’s about jump-starting a local and state economy in an emerging industry,” Greenville Public Schools Superintendent Pete Haines said. “It’s more about putting people to work producing and installing than actually generating revenues. More importantly, for the long run, it’s about creating a full-spectrum training site — everything from manufacturing of the product to installing and monitoring.”

Echo

On Golf Courses, Sensors Help Save Water

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(NY) The New York Times – In seven years of overseeing every root and blade of grass on the grounds at the Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., Matt Shaffer has built a reputation on innovation and conservation. An early advocate of course playability over aesthetics, he long lived by the maxim “the drier, the better.”

But when a stifling heat wave threatened the club’s greens before the 2005 United States Amateur Championship – a record 17th U.S.G.A. championship at Merion – Shaffer turned to his old boss, Paul R. Latshaw Sr., for advice. Latshaw told him there was one way he could continue to cut down water use while keeping his turf dry and as fast as a microwave: sensors. More

Echo

Interest in diesel vehicles quietly growing

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By Thomas J. Morissey
Capital News Service

LANSING — Although hybrids may be the most talked-about vehicle technology, good old-fashioned diesel is quietly making its own resurgence, according to a new study by a multinational marketing research firm based in Michigan. “The hybrid electric vehicles continue to get the most attention. They’re the ones consumers are most familiar with, and they’re already on the road,” said Bryan Krulikowski, vice president of Farmington Hills-based Morpace Inc.

But personal vehicles with diesel engines are catching up, according to the company’s recent Powertrain Acceptance and Consumer Engagement study. “We asked a question on our survey about awareness of clean diesel vehicles on the road today,” Krulikowski said. About 70 percent of those who responded were at least aware of the technology.

Echo

Mid-Michigan sewage plant one of seven in Great Lakes states recognized by EPA for innovation

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A mid-Michigan wastewater treatment plant worker once discovered what happens when a sewage digester gets an upset stomach. “He sat down to have a cup of coffee and he looked at the window and it was black,” said Jeff Ranes, manager of the Delhi Township plant near Lansing. “That thing actually blew its seal around the lid.”

Sludge ran through the plant’s parking lot, but a quick cleanup prevented any contamination, he said. But that shouldn’t happen anymore. The township recently wrapped up construction on a set of new digesters, part of $10 million project that will increase the plant’s capacity while generating electricity and producing clean “biosolids.”

Energy

Michigan companies see “green chemistry” blossoming

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By Joe Vaillancourt

LANSING — Twenty years from now, petroleum gasoline may be obsolete. As you pump bio-diesel fuel into your brand-new Ford-GM roadster, you probably won’t think about where the fuel came from. That’s all right — because Michigan government and business are already thinking about bio-diesel fuel, one aspect of green chemistry. Green chemistry could bring vast economic benefits to Michigan while reducing waste and harmful exposure and developing better materials in everyday products, experts say. Green chemistry, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate hazardous substances.

Echo

For Grand Rapids, sustainability is just smart business

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By Matthew Cimitile, cimitile@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
GRAND RAPIDS – From the highway, Grand Rapids, Mich. looks like any American city. Skyscraper shadows darken city blocks during the day. Streetlights, cars and the nightlife animate the city after sunset. But in Grand Rapids, businesses and government are investing in alternative technologies while incorporating sustainable practices to save money, earn profits and develop a struggling state economy.