Power plants waste a lot of energy-most of it as heat fleeing up their smokestacks. But what if the plants captured that wasted heat and put it to good use-producing more electricity, warming nearby buildings, or assisting industrial processes?
Time for Lansing to Catch, Not Ignore, the New-Tech Energy Wave
We’ll always need a rock-solid, unshakably constant supply of power. But today there are other ways to do that besides merely burning more fossil fuel.
New distributed energy technologies, new grid control systems, and new demand-side energy services should be part of what has been an under-informed, truncated conversation about meeting Michigan’s future electricity needs.
Snyder needs help pushing energy goals
Gov. Rick Snyder recently unveiled his long-awaited energy policy goals, and they are good ones. But with the most conservative Republicans in Lansing pointed in a different direction, success requires party moderates to work with Democrats, who back a platform resembling the governor’s.
Guest View: Michigan’s energy efficiency policy works
The “Clean, Renewable, and Efficient Energy Act” of 2008 has been a tremendous success. But incredibly, there are politicians at the Capitol who are considering eliminating the Energy Optimization policy -not because it isn’t working, but because they don’t like the idea of government “mandates.” Repealing the current Energy Optimization policy would instead be eliminating the most effective energy efficiency policy Michigan has ever had.
Crowdfunding Could Brighten Michigan’s Clouded Solar Future
Want to invest in a hot technology, earn a decent rate of return, create Michigan jobs, and battle climate change-all at the same time? Thanks to an innovative state law that allows “crowdfunded” investments by state residents in new or existing businesses, Michiganders could soon do exactly that by crowd-investing in clean energy projects, particularly solar power systems, located at certain kinds of businesses and institutions.
Guest View: Clean-Energy Shift Is Sharp, Global, and Gaining Speed
If further proof is needed that the global transition to clean energy is underway, you only need to look at three things that happened this month.