DETROIT - Callida Energy, a software that helps more efficiently heat and cool buildings, won first prize Thursday and a check for $80,000 in the 2016 NextChallenge: Smart Cities technology challenge. RideHop, a company that more efficiently operate transportation systems, won second place and $20,000. The challenge is a partnership among NextEnergy, Denso International America,
LANSING - The news that the aging and troubled Palisades nuclear power plant in Van Buren County would close in 2018 provided the latest twist to the ongoing energy debate in the Michigan House, where backers of legislation overhauling key regulations are down to three session days remaining to get a bill out of the
HOUGHTON - Support for solar energy is vast. According to a 2015 Gallup poll, 79 percent of Americans want the US to put more emphasis on developing solar power. Most of the same people, unfortunately, can’t afford to install solar energy systems in their homes. Even after federal tax credits, installing solar panels to cover
SOUTHFIELD - Thirty students at the University of Michigan-Dearborn have been sharing three battery-electric Ford Focus cars for the past three weeks as part of a long-term study that will help shape the future of vehicle sharing. The experiment was crafted by auto supplier Denso and NextEnergy, a Detroit-based accelerator of advanced energy and mobility
LANSING - Energy experts have dubbed 2016 as solar power’s breakthrough year, with an expected increase of 119 percent. Much of this increase has to do with the sharply falling installation costs. Being a clean, renewable, and low-cost energy source, it’s no surprise solar is becoming so popular. Here’s how your small business can reap
LANSING - Utility providers met a combined average of 121 percent of their electric energy savings targets and 117 percent of their natural gas energy savings targets in 2015, the Public Service Commission's latest report on utility energy optimization programs released Wednesday shows. The combined savings targets account for 1 percent of retail sales for
ANN ARBOR - SF Motors has chosen the Ann Arbor region for its U.S. electric vehicle research and development operations. The Chinese company will invest more than $10.7 million in the project, which will create 150 new jobs, after getting a $1 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. SF Motors is a subsidiary of
LANSING - Passing a long-term energy policy remains a goal for both Democrats and Republicans in the House, and members are expected to study the proposal passed by the Senate and determine how much support it has when the Legislature returns for lame duck next month. House Minority Leader Sam Singh (D-East Lansing), who has
ANN ARBOR - A national survey of consumer attitudes towards plug-in electric vehicles suggests that people would prefer control to convenience in many charging scenarios, and also that renewable energy sources are an important component. The survey, released Thursday by researchers Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, includes
LONDON - If leading scientists writing in one of the most respected academic journals are right, planet Earth could be on course for global warming of more than seven degrees Celsius within a lifetime. And that, according to one of the world’s most renowned climatologists, could be “game over.” Scientists have long tried to work
