The report gives a lot of attention to a 58-year-old oil pipeline that travels under the Au Sable and two of its tributaries. The pipe is owned by Enbridge Energy, which also owns the pipeline that ruptured in July 2010 and spilled 800,000 gallons of oil into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River.

The report also covered the concern over a potential boom in northern Michigan of a controversial method of natural gas extraction called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking; a process that uses toxic materials and requires an immense amount of water

Read the entire article via Great Lakes Echo

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The network was formed after an analysis uncovered 800 West Michigan companies that had potential to manufacture wind energy components. The WMWMN will no doubt aim to network companies working the wind energy sector who might not otherwise know each other existed.

Because of the regions expansive manufacturing expertise and the thousands of parts in just one wind turbine, West Michigan can enter the market quickly; building off existing capabilities. The region also has another advantage, experience with integrated systems.  This gives the turbine OEMs the opportunity to consolidate their supply chain by purchasing from as few vendors as possible; a process the manufacturers are accustomed to from the automotive and office furniture industries.

Though the wind energy industry shows great promise, the current demand may not be as impressive as one may think. Policies, government actions and incentives have given the industry some wind behind its sail; but the potential for the industry is considerably lower then estimates so far. As demand in America increases it only makes sense that the components, with their shear size and shipping cost, come from local facilities.

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Ad for Restricted Access Campaign

Tread Lightly!, in partnership with the nation’s most influential hunting and shooting sports organizations, has released a series of six print public service announcements (PSAs) encouraging responsible behavior on public lands. The PSAs are part of a much larger new education and outreach campaign called “Respected Access is Open Access.” Read the press release or see the overview of the program.

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Dragon Alliance

The E.C.O. initiative is inspired by Rob Machado, pro surfer nominated for 2009 Waterman of the Year, to actively investigate methods of manufacturing environmentally friendly sunglasses. This means Mother Nature replenishes the material used in production at the same rate it is consumed. It also comes in FSC (Forest Stuwartship Council,  established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests) certified packaging along with 100% organic cotton bags, printed with water based ink. Talk about the total package Rob.

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The next site takes it a step further by using solar imaging and existing satellite images to design solar panelling. Sungevity.com uses a similar process as described above, but after finding your location, using Bing instead, you request an iQuote taking care of the complete design and costs online. Meaning they can cut out visits to your home for measurements and such; which should speed up process, saving customers (and the company) time and money, and also reducing carbon emissions. Cool. They’re currently not servicing my area, but assure they’re quickly expanding.

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That’s just what a new website intents to do by awarding consumers credits for their reductions and then converting those credits into cash. And guess what? It’s free to join! To get started you just need to set up a profile on www.myemissionsexchange.com and enter data from your energy bills from the last 12 months. MyEx then uses that data to calculate the household’s baseline usage, taking into account seasonal variances. Users then set out to reduce their carbon footprint.

Of course, you’re not alone, you get help from MyEex’s community section, tips, blogs and other sources for advice. Each month you enter your usage amounts and MyEx certifies those reductions and awards, members carbon credits, just as those granted to companies, states and countries. They then sell the Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) on the Voluntary Carbon Market and returns the earnings to consumers via PayPal. Meanwhile, the site itself makes a commission on the brokerage of those carbon credits.

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Last year a wonderful thing happened in our community,  a local waste management (garbage) company added a flexible plastic recycling bin to one of their recycling stations (a service our local curbside recycling does not support). A station which already contained the typical recycling bins: mixed paper and cardboard, metal and plastic containers (all services, thankfully, our local curbside recycling program does support).

With the addition of the flexible plastic recycling, which included any flexible plastic like: plastic grocery bags, produce bags, bread bags, zip-lock type bags, shrink-wrap, candy wrappers, cerebral bags… anything that is plastic and flexible, garbage waste at home and at work was significantly cut back. I noticed a tremendous change in the amount of garbage waste. Unfortunately, they cancelled the program and I were left puzzled.

A possible solution? Grocery bag recycling at local supermarkets, such as Meijer (my choice) and Walmart. However, that leaves a lot of flexible plastic out of recycling. I’ve contacted both stores in an attempt to gain a clearer definition to the plastics accepted at their facilities because the last thing I’d like to see happen is recycling go to waste or create an issue by including un-recyclable plastics (for this particular application).

Not to my surprise, the local managers didn’t really know. One location told me they except plastic grocery bags only. The next location said the same, until I start probing, then they fumbled into admitting they really weren’t sure. I was then directed, by one store, to a “consumer affairs” number, which turns out to be just a general customer service line. Fair Enough. The customer service was very kind and helpful, though she had even less a clue regarding their recycling program than the local manager. I was then directed to corporate. After filtering through a long list of corporate departments, I found myself back on the phone with the same customer service representative. Uuuurrrrggghhhhh.

After being washed and wrung out of the corporate ringer, and with a little research and intuition, I believe I have it narrowed down; these facilities accept plastic grocery bags and produce bags (or any High Density Polyethylene, or HDPE, flexible plastic bags with the number 2 recycling symbol on them). No zip locks, no cereal bags, no shrink wrap, no bread bags, etc. (most of which are Low Density Polyethylene, or LDPE, plastic with the number 4 recycling symbol). Which, as previously stated, leaves lots of plastic to be thrown unwillingly in the trash.

Why is flexible plastic recycling seemingly such a hassle in my community? Is it really too big a job for facilities to handle? Do other communities have this service available? I know that compared to other states, and even other communities within our state, we have a pretty good recycling program that I have been proud to support and actively participate in. But after noticing how much more can be recycled with all flexible plastic being recycled, it’s a program I think no community should be without. I also have a fellow avid recycler from our local chamber of commerce looking into the issue further.

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1. Travel only in areas open to ROVs. Not doing this may land you a ticket anyways.
2. It’s not acceptable to drive ROVs wider than 50 inches on most designated all-terrain vehicle (ATV) trails. Be safe and courteous your fellow trail riders.
3. Cross streams only at designated fording points or where the trail crosses the stream. Cross slowly at a 90 degree angle.  Remember, you’re not only sharing the wilderness with trail riders but with the Earth and all of it’s inhabitants. Be sure to not disrupt the natural environment.
4. Do not carry passengers in the bed of the ROV. Too bumpy of a ride anyhow.
5. Buddy up with two or three drivers. Driving solo can leave you vulnerable if you have an accident or breakdown. Designate meeting areas in case of separation. This is just good sense for any extended outdoor adventure.
6. When winching, always inspect your equipment, use the right winch for the situation, find a good secure anchor, and never winch with less than five wraps of wire rope around the drum. When using a tree as an anchor, use a wide strap to avoid damage to the trunk of the tree.
7. Obtain a map of your destination and determine which areas are open to ROVs.
8. Make sure you and each passenger in the vehicle wears a seat belt.
9. Make sure your ROV is mechanically up to task. Be prepared with appropriate tools, supplies, spares and oil spill kit for trail side repairs and cleanup. Smart.
10. Before and after a trip, wash your ROV (try Bike Magik from Biokleen) and support vehicle to reduce the spread of invasive species. Maintaining often makes it easier to clean the next time as well. This is also most important when traveling across county or states lines.

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Nine Banded Armadillo

Texas is a land of cattle, horses and armadillos. The armadillo is a fascinating creature to visitors from the north. They first foraged into Texas across the Rio Grande from Mexico in the 1800’s. Armadillo is Spanish for “Little Armored One”. There are 20 species of armadillos which are distinguished by the number of bands on their armor. They range from the 5 foot Giant Armadillo to the Pink Fairy Armadillo of 5 inches. All species are native to the Americas. In the U.S. the sole resident is the Nine-banded Armadillo.

Armadillos are prolific diggers and build burrows near creeks and streams feeding on ants and grubs. The Nine-banded Armadillo tends to jump straight up in the air when frightened and consequently collides with the undercarriage or fenders of passing cars, unfortunately the reason you see so many fur-belly side up beside the road.

Southwestern Decor

They first came into Texas crossing the Rio Grande River from Mexico in the 1800’s. Interestingly enough they have the ability to remain underwater up to 6 minutes and inflate their stomach with air to float and swim. The Nine-banded Armadillo also serves science through its unusual mammal reproductive system in which genetically identical quadruplets are born in every liter. During the great depression the species was actually hunted for it’s meat in East Texas where it was known as “Hoovers Hog’.

Cowboy's Limo

There are interesting energy solutions across Texas including everything from old windmills pumping water to livestock in vast desolate acreages, to big oil wells drilling the liquid gold, to wind turbines converting the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical energy which is then converted to electricity.

Turbines used in wind farms are usually a three bladed tapered airfoil shape and pointed into the wind by computer controlled motors. The blades rotate 10-22 rpms and range in length from 65-130 feet and the steel towers range from 200-300 feet tall – making for an awesome sight across the landscape. All turbines are equipped with shut down features to avoid damage at high wind speeds.

Wind Turbine Power in Texas

Saturday May 9th the Windpower 2009 conference was held at McCormick Place, Chicago. It was reported that the 2008 wind energy production was at 25,170MW installed, putting the U.S. as #1 in the world ahead of Germany. Texas with 7116MW accounts for ¼ of that and Iowa second with 2790MW. The wind industry employs 85,000 people in the U.S. The Obama administration wants the U.S. to be producing 20% of it’s electricity from wind by 2030. Amazingly we are on track to do it.

Closer to home, Mas Tech, a small factory in Manistee, is churning out wind turbines helping usher in a new greener era for Michigan manufacturing. According to Next Energy, a renewable energy group in Detroit, “Some 400 other Michigan manufacturers have the capabilities to craft gear boxes, brakes, generators and other parts for utility size wind turbines with the structures selling for two million dollars a piece.” One federal report identifies Michigan as one of the four states that could create up to 30,000 new jobs from wind energy.

Home of the 72oz

Back in Texas, the state is also known for its great steak houses. A popular spot on the trail is the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo. Their claim to fame is the Free 72 oz. steak dinner… if you can eat it all in 1 hour. They say many have tried and many have failed, but reports over 8,000 hearty diners have done it including a 68 year old woman. I think we’ll have to pass, but you never know… maybe next year.

View all Bio-Kleen’s Photos from Albuquerque to Dallas

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