Clean Update

New Energy Laws Top Priority For Michigan Energy Agency

LANSING - State energy industry regulators said Thursday their top priority in the coming months is to continue implementation of new comprehensive energy laws passed late last year and don't expect to see much in the way of major initiatives coming before the Legislature this fall. "It's a huge amount of work with a lot

By |2017-08-11T08:45:59-04:00August 11th, 2017|Clean Update, Politics|

Federal Report Concludes Americans Are Reeling From Effects Of Climate Change

WASHINGTON — The average temperature in the United States has risen rapidly and drastically since 1980, and recent decades have been the warmest of the past 1,500 years, according to a sweeping federal climate change report awaiting approval by the Trump administration. The draft report by scientists from 13 federal agencies concludes that Americans are feeling the

By |2017-08-10T07:33:43-04:00August 10th, 2017|Clean Update, Featured|

Michigan Sustainability Conference Set For Detroit Sept. 14

DETROIT — The second annual Michigan Sustainability Conference will be held Thursday, Sept. 14 at the Crowne Plaza Detroit, 2 Washington Boulevard. The event, organized by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, is designed to promote meaningful engagement with business professionals surrounding the topic of sustainability. Keynote speakers will include Joel Howrani Heeres, director of

By |2017-08-04T13:03:09-04:00August 4th, 2017|Clean Update, ESD|

Missing Lead In Flint Water Pipes Confirms Cause Of Crisis

ANN ARBOR - A study of lead service lines in Flint's damaged drinking water system reveals a Swiss cheese pattern in the pipes' interior crust, with holes where the lead used to be. The findings—led by researchers at the University of Michigan—support the generally accepted understanding that lead leached into the system because that water

By |2017-07-28T13:14:00-04:00July 28th, 2017|Clean Update|

Michigan Tech’s Summer Youth Program Hosts Detroit Students For Clean Energy Camps

HOUGHTON - Michigan Tech’s Summer Youth Program is hosting two groups of PAAMEE students from the Detroit area for week-long, hands-on summer camps on clean energy. One group was at Tech last week; the other is on campus this week.   The PAAMEE program, funded by National Science Foundation (NSF), runs 1.5 years for each group.

By |2017-07-27T19:28:36-04:00July 27th, 2017|Clean Update|

New Robotic Lab Tracking Toxicity Of Lake Erie Algal Bloom

ANN ARBOR—A new research tool to safeguard drinking water is now keeping a watchful eye on Lake Erie. This week, a robotic lake-bottom laboratory began tracking the levels of dangerous toxins produced by cyanobacteria that bloom each summer in the lake's western basin. The goal is to provide advance warning to municipal drinking water managers

By |2017-07-21T14:14:11-04:00July 20th, 2017|Clean Update|

Nanoparticles Could Usher In Age Of Invisibility Cloaks

ANN ARBOR - The science fiction of invisibility cloaking devices may become science fact after University of Michigan researchers announced this week they have developed a new technique that peppers metallic nanoparticles into semiconductors. The advance also could boost the efficiency of LED lighting by about 50 percent. It's the first technique that can inexpensively

By |2017-07-20T07:02:47-04:00July 19th, 2017|Clean Update|

Top U.S. Solar Car Team Goes Small To Win Big In 2017

ANN ARBOR—The sun-powered vehicle that the University of Michigan’s top-ranked Solar Car Team will race in a global contest this fall is the smallest and most aerodynamic that any U-M team has ever built. The long, skinny, single-fairing car is named Novum—Latin for “new thing.” For a week in October, a 17-member race crew will

By |2017-07-14T10:25:04-04:00July 14th, 2017|Clean Update|

Summer Forecast – Another Algal Bloom To Foul Lake Erie

ANN ARBOR - Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water, University of Michigan researchers and their business partners predict that western Lake Erie will again experience a significant harmful algal bloom this summer, approaching the record bloom of 2015. The Lake Erie forecast was released Thursday by the National Oceanic

By |2017-07-13T17:35:49-04:00July 13th, 2017|Clean Update|

Amid Regulatory Shakeup, Cautious Optimism Emerges Among Small Power Plant Operators

JACKSON - Small, independently owned power plants across Michigan are locked in a battle with Jackson-based Consumers Energy over what may very well decide their fate. In a rate case before the Michigan Public Service Commission that’s expected to be settled in mid July, state regulators are setting a new course for how these independently owned facilities

By |2017-07-12T19:24:46-04:00July 12th, 2017|Clean Update|