LANSING – Legislators meeting in Traverse City from across the Midwest jammed one of the first committee meetings dealing with alternative energy, as officials from a number of states said the growth of alternative fuels could make the region one of the world leaders in the energy source.
Officials also talked about the need for states to work together on developing the alternative fuel sources. The talks came during the Midwest group of the Council of State Governments annual meeting.
But officials were also cautioned against being too optimistic about the potential economic effect of the growth of alternative fuels. David Swenson of Iowa State University said that while development of ethanol and bio-diesel fuels has brought some economic development to rural areas some officials have overblown total job estimates.
Still, a number of state legislators and officials outlined a series of different projects each is undertaking to save energy and make greater use of alternative fuels.
For example, Indiana has designated the small town of Reynolds to become as energy self-sufficient as possible under its BioTown project.
Minnesota officials outlined efforts to expand the development and use of E-85 pumps in the Gopher State (Michigan officials are also promoting greater use of E-85 pumps) and requiring that their utilities produce 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025.
Michigan officials have not yet adopted a similar standard regarding state utilities.
But Minnesota Rep. Al Juhnke also said that the states should have no secrets between each other as they work on capitalizing on alternative energy operations.
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