Our Guest Speaker in November was a professional friend of ours -- Mary Templeton. Mary is Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Wind Energy Consulting and Contracting, Inc (WECC), which provides turn-key services for wind projects large and small. She is based in Michigan and has sales and marketing responsibilities for the Jacksonville, Florida-headquartered company, working to develop the wind energy economy in the Americas and theCaribbean. Over the past year, she has served as the Vice Chair with the Wind Energy Resource Zoning Board (WERZ), representing the public at large and assisting in the identification of the best locations for wind energy development in Michigan.  

 

Michigan and other states have recognized the need for a more forward-looking planning approach to the interconnection of wind energy projects. The Wind Energy Resource Zone Board was created following comprehensive energy legislation, to assist with this planning process. Specifically, the board was tasked with identifying a “list of regions of the state with the highest wind energy harvest potential” and conducting related studies. 

 

 

Three regions in West Michigan and one region in the Thumb area have the state’s highest potential for wind energy projects. Transmission companies and electric utilities are now tasked with identifying the electric transmission facilities needed to deliver the estimated minimum and maximum wind energy potential from each of these regions.  They are required to submit this information to the Wind Energy Resource Zone Board, which will review that information.  The Michigan Public Service Commission will issue a final order that designates the area of Michigan likely to be most productive of wind energy as the primary wind energy resource zone and may designate additional wind energy resource zones.

 

We held our September event at an Irish Pub in downtown Ann Arbor.   Our speaker was great and well received.  His name is Justin Sutton and he is the founder of a company called the Interstate Traveler. 

 

Justin is a Michigan native who has been working for years on a concept that seems to be right out of the future. It’s a magnetic levitating rail system that will run along with existing freeway infrastructures.   The high speed passenger and freight transportation system would be powered by solar panels which are used for hydrogen generation resulting in the production of clean electricity and water for municipalities.  As a result, the this mass transportation system becomes a revenue producer (as opposed to a revenue drain like most mass transportation).  No financial subsidies are needed to make this system operational.  Justin already has over 150 worldwide investors – and Justin is offering a revenue sharing model with hosting states and cities.

 

So far, some of Justin’s technology is currently  being deployed in Middle east cities.  However the company is currently trying to make this concept a reality in Michigan.  The main obstacle to making it a reality in the state is getting right of way access to freeways so the hyrail system can be built (some 36 feet high) along highway areas.  The concept was studied and endorsed by Michigan house and senate and 2002 and is currently being reviewed for another endorsement.  

 

Participants were very engaged with a lot of good questions.  Several even gave a standing ovation.  Also – there were good networking opportunities for participants as usual.

 

On October 27, Jeremy and I are planning our first ever panel event with four distinguished speakers.  We look forward to seeing many old and new friends there.  Please RSVP and join us!

For those of you who missed John Viera, Director of Sustainability for Ford Motor Company, you missed a great discussion. John provided an engaging overview of sustainability efforts at Ford. Ford made a commitment to being a corporate leader in sustainability a number of years ago, and much of that commitment is starting to pay off. John mentioned that there were at least three areas that Ford maintains on sustainability efforts: product, manufacturing, and social responsibility. 

  While much focus is placed on all three areas, if there is any one area where more current resources are being placed its in their products. For example, Ford is creating multiple fuel and energy platform by readying various operations throughout the world. Rather than second guess the most viable source of fuel or energy in the future, Ford has a cross-platform strategy will allow the automaker to make relativity quick adjustments to vehicle manufacturing. As a result of this sort of plug and play approach, Ford anticipates it will be ready to leverage the right vehicle fuel and energy sources when and where they are needed in the future. Of course Ford products are designed with other positive sustainable features in mind. Fuel economy is among these – and the company continues to find ways to provide best-in-class fuel economy without sacrificing comfort and performance. Ford sustainability efforts also permeate many other facets of their operations from vehicle materials acquisition and disposal, plant operations, waste management, energy conservation and much more.   For more information about Ford’s blueprint for sustainability, check out the following link:   http://www.ford.com/about-ford/company-information/corporate-sustainability