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LANSING — Michigan clean energy businesses continue to build support for renewable energy development, as evidenced by the formation of a new group, the Energy Innovation Business Council, announced on Feb. 8 at an event at the Capitol building.
Speakers from Astraeus Wind Energy Inc., The Dow Chemical Company and LED Optical Solutions were on hand to discuss the particulars of Michigan’s growing advanced energy industry. The EIBC plans to work with the public and policymakers to push Michigan’s clean energy economy.
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 GRAND RAPIDS — Many business owners support renewable energy but either cannot afford to install the systems or are not allowed to do so because of local regulations.
Even with onsite renewable energy installations off the table, people still have secondary ways to support other projects by purchasing renewable energy credits (RECs) or carbon offsets, two very different options.
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 MUSKEGON — Michigan wants to put its foot on the gas when it comes to helping small businesses developing advanced technologies, particularly in energy.
In a statewide effort, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and the Michigan Small Business Technology Development Center have partnered to facilitate the Business Accelerator Fund.
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Biodiesel has become one of the fastest-growing alternative fuels on the market, mostly due to its usefulness as an alternative to petroleum-based diesel.
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 MUSKEGON — If Michigan is ever to tap into the vast wind resources over Lake Michigan, it will need data to convince developers to make the hefty investment.
Bobbing four miles off the coast of Lake Michigan is an advanced research buoy, one of three in the world. It’s an eight-ton, 20-by-10-foot, boat-shaped structure measuring wind and serving as a platform for wildlife research.
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 It’s not often that a sitting president travels to West Michigan, but when you’re becoming a center of the global advanced battery industry, even the leader of the free world takes notice.
West Michigan continues to be a magnet to advanced battery manufacturers. Johnson Controls and LG Chem in Holland and fortu PowerCell in Muskegon all have plans to invest more than $1 billion in renovations and new facilities with the hope to supply automakers and other industries as battery demand rises.
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The city of Holland is known as one of West Michigan’s more conservative areas, but it is weighing a downright progressive energy plan.
In early 2011, the city of Holland contracted environmental consulting firm Garforth International LLC to produce an environmental and strategic assessment of its energy capacity and to provide a road map for 21st century improvements.
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While wind turbines might be sexier than biomass energy, both help solve a critical issue: helping Michigan move away from a reliance on coal-fired power.
The Fremont Community Biomass Digester, currently under construction and expected to begin operation in the mid-2012, is leading the way. The Fremont digester’s technology will allow the plant to convert food processing waste otherwise destined for landfills into methane gas for energy production, processing 400 tons of waste per day and generating approximately three megawatts of electricity – enough to power 1,500 homes.
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