Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/category/news/business/energy/)
Mason City Council has raised concern regarding a permit request from Jordan Development to drill for oil. The council said the drilling well would interfere with area businesses, residences and Mason High School. Jordan Development wants to place a drilling wellhead in a field on Kipp Road. The wellhead would be between Gestamp Mason LLC and King Motors. The city cannot deny a permit to Jordan Development.
SOLAR: Some lawmakers want to lift the cap on the amount of solar energy Michigan utility companies must buy back from their customers. Solar power currently provides only 0.3% of the state’s electricity. The Sierra Club says the change would create more solar industry jobs, reduce electricity prices and benefit the environment. We also speak to a cosponsor from Traverse City and an Ann Arbor woman with solar panels on her roof. Other sponsors include representatives from Hancock, Grand Rapids, Harbor Springs, Gaylord and Cadillac. By Kristia Potsema. FOR MARQUETTE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP! MONTMORENCY, CADILLAC, DETROIT, CHEBOYGAN, TRAVERSE CITY AND ALL POINTS.
HAY: Hay, good lookin’! Southern horses like Michigan hay, but rising transportation costs may rein in the sale of Michigan hay to horse owners in places like Florida and Tennessee. MSU Extension specialists explain. By Kirsten Rintelmann. FOR MICHIGAN FARM NEWS AND ALL POINTS.
SALAD BOWL: For lettuce that calls indoor farms home, the “sunlight” can be blue, pink, red or other colors. That’s because LED lights allow growers to pick the spectrums of the sun that are most useful for plants. The technology is helping Midwest farmers compete with the country’s best-known “Salad Bowl” in California. We talk to an MSU horticulture professor and to farmers in Caledonia and South Bend, Indiana. For news and agriculture sections. By Brianna M. Lane. FOR STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN FARM NEWS, HILLSDALE AND ALL POINTS.
ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE: How well-prepared is Michigan’s energy infrastructure for potential damage by extreme weather events caused by climate change? We talk to the head of the Public Service Commission, a Michigan Tech engineering professor and the deputy director of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. Brandon Chew. FOR MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. MARIE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, MICHIGAN FARM NEWS AND ALL POINTS.
A new water treatment facility is coming to East Lansing. The project, spearheaded by Michigan State University professor Dr. Wei Liao will be just south of 1855 Place on campus. The goal of the plant, according to Liao, is to turn wastewater into drinkable water. However, Liao says that goal is not attainable at this moment due to regulations. For now, Liao is focusing on turning sewage water and wastewater into renewable energy by extracting nutrients from food waste and sewage water and converting them into energy.
ENERGY GRANHOLM: Advice and reactions as ex-Gov. Granholm becomes U.S. secretary of Energy comes from ex-U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham (himself a former Energy secretary), the Public Service Commission chair (from Northport), Michigan Municipal Electric Association and Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council. Includes references to Traverse City, Marquette, Harbor Springs, Hillsdale, Holland, Sturgis, Coldwater, Grand Haven, Negaunee, Zeeland, Hart, Wyandotte, Charlevoix, Petoskey and Lansing. By Eric Freedman. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP! TRAVERSE CITY, LEELANAU, HARBOR SPRINGS, STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, HOLLAND, PETOSKEY, HILLSDALE, COLDWATER, OCEANA, LANSING CITY PULSE, DETROIT, MICHIGAN FARM NEWS AND ALL POINTS.
MICHIGAN SOLAR: Solar energy newcomers and longtime aficionados can tour solar-powered homes virtually in Michigan and across the nation as an annual live tour goes digital due to the pandemic. By Taylor Haelterman FOR LANSING CITY PULSE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS AND ALL POINTS
ENERGY CRISIS – A new Michigan study uses the COVID-19 pandemic to help reveal existing energy crises such as costly utility bills and the dangers of energy pollution. It cites problems in rural areas and tribal nations from Michigan, but the same issues can be seen across the United States and globally. The study by a Michigan Technological University researcher was inspired by the state’s controversial pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac. By Taylor Haelterman. For SAULT STE. MARIE, TRAVERSE CITY, PETOSKEY, CHEBOYGAN, BAY MILLS AND ALL POINTS
In this edition of Focal Point, the director of MSU Museums is suspended for keeping his sources under wraps. Vice President MIke Pence visits Lansing and things are heating up in the Democrats. Michigan’s primary is on March 10, and we speak with Lansing’s city clerk to learn about voting in the primary.
Blue Owl Coffee expanded earlier this year from its East Lansing location to a new space in Lansing’s Old Town. The coffee shop offers an activity that allows any customer or barista to add to a community painting.
