Conference!

Michigan has a bright future in wind energy, according to attendees at a sold-out wind power conference held Monday and Tuesday at Michigan State University.

"Manufacturing and Developing Wind Energy Systems in Michigan" aimed to link wind power companies with Michigan's manufacturing base, which is more than capable of building the mechanical guts of wind turbine systems.

It also offered a look at ideas and regulations for creating wind power businesses, and information from veteran wind entrepreneurs.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm was the event's Tuesday luncheon speaker, earning a standing ovation from a packed conference room for promising to pass this fall a "renewable portfolio standard" law for the state. Such laws, common in many other states, mandate that a certain percentage of a state's total energy consumption be generated from renewable sources by a certain future date.

Granholm said Michigan's long coastline -- longer than California's or Florida's, longer than any state except Alaska -- combined with its deep manufacturing expertise make Michigan one of the world's top prospects for generating wind power.

"Michigan is going green," Granholm said, adding that the state's strategy is to replace lost auto industry jobs with jobs in the renewable energy industry.

Granholm also touted the possibilities of offshore wind turbines that would also harness wave energy in the Great Lakes.

Earlier Tuesday, attendees got information on company formation from Mark Willers, a director at MinWind LLC in Lucerne, Minn., a company set up by 66 farmers with interests in wind power, corn-based ethanol and soy-based biodiesel.

Also, breakfast keynoter James Walker, president-elect of the American Wind Energy Association, said wind can actually power all of the electrical and transportation needs of the United States.

Walker said the current electrical grid has a total capacity of 1,000 gigawatts -- but that 11,000 gigawatts of wind power could be harvested in the U.S. with current technology. That's enough to provide electricity for current uses, as well as for the eventual electrification of the nation's vehicle fleet.

Jack McCloughan, economic development liaison with the city of South Haven, spoke about his community's wind power partnership with Albermarle Corp. at a local chemical plant, while Wyandotte officials spoke of the Downriver city's "brownfield to windfield" project.

And Lisa Daniels, executive director of Windustry, in Minneapolis, led a review of Midwest community-based wind projects.

The event reached its capacity of 300 attendees five days before the event, according to the MSU Land Policy Institute, the host of the event, and almost all of those registrants showed up -- 280 dinners were served Monday night.

The event's other host sponsors were NextEnergy, the state's alternative energy industry accelerator, and the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

The event also featured exhibitors -- some you'd expect, such as Hybrid Design Services Inc., a Dearborn renewable energy system design firm, and Kent Power Inc., a renewable energy contractor in Kent City.

But some you wouldn't expect -- Diversified Tooling Group of Madison Heights, the law firm of Howard and Howard, the Ann Arbor marketing and business plan advisors Shepherd Advisors.

Currently, Michigan has just three functioning wind turbines -- two in Mackinaw City and one in Traverse City. But many more are on the drawing boards, in locations ranging from Huron County to Leelanau County to the northern shore of the Upper Peninsula.

Also, Western Michigan University plans to dedicate a wind turbine generator Friday at its College of Engineering on Kalamazoo's western border along US-131.

From: OUR MAN on the SCENE and IN THE TRENCHES!

Gentlemen,

AS you know, I attended the MSU wind energy conference on 9-10 and 9-11 where I represented SEND. The only organization attending the conference that was objectively representing K thru 20 education was SEND. Although there is a Michigan Wind Energy Research Collaborative (MIWERC) and they are a big part of the effort to install large wind energy in Michigan. Their focus is mainly on higher education with an emphasis on graduate type studies, I beleive this is the case although they need to be researched more. Their lead man is now going to be John D. Warbach, PHD of the MSU Land Policy Institute website www.landpolicy.msu.edu.

Probably the most immediately relevant contact that was established was with a Mr. Dilip K. Nigam, PE OF Analytical Design Service Corporation.Phone #734-761-2626 ext.223 and website of www.adsc-usa.com. They are the redesign developers of the Mackensie (Sp?) Bay Vertical Axis Wind Turbine.

They ostensibly hold the patent on this new design and we entered into preliminary negototiations about working collaboratively in the areas of research that SEND has put forth in the Marine and other applications. I also made some great contacts with financing groups such as Cleantech Group LLC of Brighton, Mich. website www.cleantech.com.

Although I was somewhat disappointed that I couldn't find one person in the room that knew about the STEM initiative, there wasn't many who hadn't heard about it by the time the conference was over. Also I didn't come across anyone who could not seemingly comprehend the need for linking up K-20 (and beyond) into real world learning environments such as we are proposing.

My main problem right now is that while I am trying to juggle the electrical work along with birthing SEND, this is all taking it's toll on my finances and sleep. The end result is my effectiveness is diminished in all areas. So my immediate goal is to break free from the gravity of the mundane from the financial aspects anyway. Any input?

Looking forward,

Jim B.

Conference shows strong interest in wind energy in Michigan
Michigan has a bright future in wind energy, according to attendees at a sold-out wind power conference in September at Michigan State University. "Manufacturing and Developing Wind Energy Systems in Michigan" aimed to link wind power companies with Michigan's manufacturing base, which is more than capable of building the mechanical guts of wind turbine systems. It also offered a look at ideas and regulations for creating wind power businesses, and information from veteran wind entrepreneurs. Jack McCloughan, economic development liaison with the city of South Haven, spoke about his community's wind power partnership with Albermarle Corp. at a local chemical plant, while Wyandotte officials spoke of the Downriver city's "brownfield to windfield" project. Currently, Michigan has just three functioning wind turbines -- two in Mackinaw City and one in Traverse City. But many more are on the drawing boards, in locations ranging from Huron County to Leelanau County to the northern shore of the Upper Peninsula.