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Michigan's Renewable Energy Industry

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This page is being developed for eventual posting on the Michigan Renewable Energy Program website: http://www.michigan.gov/mrep. The idea is to have a complete briefing about Michigan's Renewable Energy Industry, its history and current status. This will be similar in format and content to websites currently under development for the Michigan Natural Gas Industry and Michigan Electricity Industry.

Please help to edit this story, ask questions, point out missing information, etc.

Here is the working outline for this project:

  1. Introduction
  2. History
    1. Prehistoric Michigan... 100% renewable energy. Wood. Wind. Water.
    2. Early settlers... 100% renewable energy. Wood. Wind. Water.
    3. Late 19th and early 20th Centuries:
      1. Wind for sailing
      2. Wind for pumping water: Kalamazoo area known as "Wind Mill City, U.S.A."
      3. Wood for fuel for steamboats shipping on the great lakes.
      4. Water power for early mills.
      5. Coal mining (though this report will be about renewable energy, it should also have whatever discussion is needed to put into context the "oil age" and "coal age" that we're still a part of.)
    4. The early days of Michigan electrification
      1. Rural electrification using wind generators and batteries
      2. Henry Ford's "Village Workshops" using small hydroelectric dams
      3. Utility scale hydro
    5. The New Deal Era (1930 to WW II)
    6. Fossil Fuels Take Over: 1940s through 1970s
      1. The Ludington Pumped Storage Facility: Renewable, or not, here it comes...
      2. Oil crises in 1973-4 and 1979-80
    7. The PURPA Era and Tax Credit Programs: 1980s
      1. Federal and state tax credits drive an early solar industry.
      2. Waste-to-Energy, some consider "renewable"
      3. Small wind tried, but early machines not too reliable. The badly misunderstood Parks study from MSU sets wind energy in Michigan back for more than 20 years.
    8. 1990s Utility Green Rate Programs Begin
        1. Traverse City Power & Light: Among the first in the country
        2. Detroit Edison's Solar Currents Program

Detroit Edison ran its "Solar Currents" program in the 1990s, and still operates the largest operating solar photovoltaic installation in Michigan, which is capable of producing, under optimum conditions, 32 kilowatts of power. For a history of the Detroit Edison Solar Currents program, see the Michigan Renewable Energy Program Annual Reports to the Michigan Public Service Commission for 2003 and [2004-2005 http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mrep_annual_2005_143719_7.pdf] (p. 70).

      1. Michigan's wood burning power plants (6 major plants in northern lower Michigan, presently provide about 1% of the state's electricity)
  2. Start of a new century
    1. Michigan bio-fuels industry

The Southeast Michigan RC&D Council has launched the Michigan Wood Energy website, an interactive educational tool to assist facility managers in the use of wood biomass for energy. The site features the Wood Energy Calculator, which allows users to generate cost savings estimates for switching to wood as a boiler fuel, and a copy of "Exploring Woody Biomass Retrofit Opportunities in Michigan Boiler Operations," the new report from CTA Architects and Engineers that looks at statewide potential for wood systems. Please visit <http://michiganwoodenergy.org/> for more information.

    1. Michigan solar
      1. Hemlock Semi-conductor
      2. Uni-Solar
      3. Other solar manufacturers
      4. Solar dealers and installers
    2. Michigan Wind
      1. Utility Scale Developments
      2. Small Wind
  2. Michigan renewable energy organizations
    1. The Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association (GLREA)
    2. Michigan Agricultural Business Assocatioon (MIAGBIZ)
    3. Michigan Alternative & Renewable Energy Center (MAREC)
    4. NextEnergy and the NextEnergy Center
    5. Michigan Sustainable Energy Coalition (MSEC)
  3. Michigan Schools, Colleges, and Universities with Renewable Energy Specialties
    1. K-12
    2. Colleges and Community Colleges
    3. Universities
  4. Michigan Government Roles in Renewable Energy
    1. Department of Labor & Economic Growth, Michigan Energy Office
    2. Michigan Public Service Commission, Michigan Renewable Energy Program (MREP)
    3. Michigan Department of Agriculture
    4. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
    5. Michigan Department of Natural Resources
    6. Michigan Renewable Fuels Commission
    7. Planning, Siting, and Zoning: Local and County Government Responsibilities
  5. What will the future bring?
    1. Biofuels, biomaterials, and a bioeconomy?
    2. Hydro without harm; power from waves, currents, and run-of-river generation
    3. Our windy peninsulas
    4. Sun, sun, sun, for everyone
    5. Other renewable energy ideas
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