Hickner, Wind Energy Group to Discuss Shoreline Visibility on Nov. 10
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Mackinaw Power wind energy installation underway in Mackinaw City.
Bay County Executive Thomas L. Hickner, who has been re-appointed to the Great Lakes Wind Council, will join the council in discussing whether to reduce the shoreline visibility buffer from six miles to one mile and the navigation channel buffer from one mile to 0.25 mile on each side of the channel.
The appointment of Mr. Hickner, representing local governments, by Gov. Jennifer Granholm expires Dec. 31, 2010. The governor recently extended the life of the council to that date, by which time a report is due.
The next meeting of the council is Nov. 10, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Kellogg Center, East Lansing.
Agenda items for the next meeting include the status of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding for a proposed $45 million testing facility in Detroit and handling of offshore wind applications by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).
The council will hear a presentation by Dan Radomski, vice president - industry services, of NEXTEnergy. Launched in 2002, NextEnergy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to become one of the nation's leading catalysts for alternative and renewable energy.
"By bringing promising technologies to maturity and up to scale in the marketplace, we accelerate the impact and profitability of this increasingly important industry," said Mr. Radomski.
The group's goals include research projects, developing new technologies for power-generation, transportation and fuels.
Private member Richard F. Vander Veen, president of Mackinaw Power, Lowell, Michigan, will lead discussion on whether the council should help develop strategies to raise private and public funds to promote offshore wind and related investments and research.
Founded in 2003, Mackinaw Power has played an integral role in the development of renewable energy in Michigan including the first privately financed wind power project in the Great Lakes, which received unanimous approvals by Mackinaw City, Emmet County, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) and agreements with Consumers Energy that launched the CMS Green Power Pilot Program in 2002.
The group also will discuss coastal community public meetings and identify hosts, location and format for such meetings.
The U.S. hiked wind-generation capacity 50 percent last year, overtaking Germany as the world's largest producer, the Global Wind Energy Council has reported.
U.S. generation capacity rose to more than 25 gigawatts, amounting to about 21 percent of total global capacity of 121 gigawatts.
Generating more power from renewable sources is sought to cut energy imports and limit carbon dioxide emissions, generated by energy production from fossil fuels. The European Union is seeking to increase energy produced by renewables to 20 percent by 2020.
Germany's capacity was about 24 gigawatts at the end of 2008 and China more than doubled its capacity last year to more than 12 gigawatts, the report said. The global wind turbine market was worth about $47.5 billion last year, according to the GWEC.
As CO2 remains in the atmosphere for a century or longer, annual output worldwide "must be dramatically reduced" to stabilize levels of greenhouse gas to reduce global warming, the U.S. government?s Climate Change Science Program has reported. ###
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