5-8-09

Davison Township, MI - Davison Township has become a lot greener by incorporating the Rewards for Recycling program for all residents.  The program launched in Davison Township in mid April, and in the first full recycling period, the number of households participating in the curbside recycling effort increased by nearly 50%.  The total volume of recyclables collected from the Township was almost triple past periods.

Davison Township Supervisor, Kurt Soper, is excited about the value the township is offering back to the residents, and for the emphasis this program will place on the importance of Recycling.  "This is an exciting program that will allow every Davison Township resident to reap rewards and savings, plus help the community wide effort to Go Green and divert tons of recyclables away from area landfills."

May 15, 2009 
 
Wide-scale deployment is at least five years away. But the architects behind the first-ever power plant to attempt to capture and store carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will fire up a pilot project in September in a test that could last up to three years.

If the 20-megawatt trial at the Mountaineer Plant in New Haven, W.V., is deemed successful, then American Electric Power (AEP) will implement the same technology in 2011 at another facility in Oklahoma in a 200-megawatt project. After that and around 2015, AEP says that the operations that will use chilled ammonia to scrub the CO2 emissions can be ready for prime time. Those releases would then be compressed and stored permanently underground or be used to help retrieve oil deposits.

The Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth Green Jobs Conference was a rousing success attended by more than 1,400 eager participants. United States Senator’s Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin gave opening remarks about the role Washington plays in assisting Michigan’s efforts to grow its green economy, followed by an informative panel discussion including Kate Gordon of the Apollo Alliance, Skip Pruss of DELEG, and Chris Adamo from Senator Stabenow’s Washington office.

The Keynote speaker was Van Jones, President Obama’s Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation who talked about the President’s vision for economic recovery and sustained growth, with closing remarks by U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis and Governor Jennifer Granholm. Fifteen Breakout Sessions were offered on green jobs, training, education, and key developments in wind, solar, and biomass, and were conducted by leading experts in education and industry.

May 13, 2009

With the worst part likely over and key aspects of the stimulus program about to begin, a sense of economic confidence is in the air. Yet, green energy developers are starved, not just for seed money but also for political and regulatory certainty.

The stimulus package, which passed in February and which was pushed as the central vehicle that would lift the economy out of recession, has billions set aside for clean technology in the form of loan guarantees, venture capital and block grants provided to the states. It's about supplying much-needed funding to companies at a time when traditional debt and equity markets are hard to crack.

May 11, 2009

During last year's Christmas season, the Tennessee Valley Authority delivered the bad news to its East Tennessee neighbors that one of its dikes had burst and released 5.4 million cubic yards of coal fly ash into the surrounding areas. While no one died, water tests indicated elevated levels of deadly pollutants that had killed hundreds of fish.

TVA, the nation's largest wholesale provider of electricity, is still battling the disaster and it is projected that it will spend at least $850 million cleaning it up. But now Congress and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are also examining the issue to determine if coal ash should be federally regulated under hazardous waste laws or if those rules should continue to be left to the states.