Michigan Alternative & Renewable Energy Center

Offshore Wind Project and Biomass Plant

GVSU-MAREC Receives Approval to Launch Offshore Lake Michigan Wind Assessment Study - click for full story

Michigan Offshore Wind Pilot Project  - The State of Michigan imports 93% of its fossil fuel requirements form Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky at an annual cost of approximately $18 billion. About 60% of Michigan’s electricity is generated using coal, 24% using nuclear energy, and 12% from Natural Gas. Michigan’s annual energy bill drains the economy and impacts job retention. Michigan has two large natural energy resources: wind and biomass. Studies show that the wind potential of Lake Michigan is in the range of 4 to 6 wind class with 7 being the highest. In the central part of Lake Michigan this wind power is estimated to be about 182 GW.  A tenth of this wind power potential  is equivalent to some 20 nuclear power plants. The advantages of offshore wind installations include the higher wind velocities over water, avoidance of any damage to the migratory bird paths, and therefore are not an eyesore for those inclined to hold that perspective.
Plans are being developed for an offshore wind study project that will measure wind conditions, seasonal ice conditions and conduct other related research on Lake Michigan on a year-round basis.  Before commercial scale offshore wind energy development can occur on the Great Lakes, there are many economic, environmental and technical questions that must be answered.  Working in partnership with other units of GVSU as well as other research universities, MAREC will assist in creating a knowledge pathway for the much anticipated development of offshore wind energy technology.
 
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Biomass Plant Operational   April marks the sixth anniversary of the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC) at Grand Valley State University. In addition to demonstrating the technical and economic performance of various alternative and renewable technologies at MAREC the focus has also been on one of Michigan’s key energy resource: Biomass.  
The biomass initiative started shortly after the inception of MAREC. Research was conducted to evaluate a variety of anaerobic biodigesters. These are technologies that utilize the natural microbial activities that digest the biomass waste material and produce biogas: methane and carbon dioxide. The biogas can then be used in renewable power generating systems to produce electricity. Entec Biogas GMBH of Austria showed the most promise of an advanced and proven biodigester technology that can process a variety of single or mixed streams of biomass waste. This biomass plant also produces reduced pathogen fertilizer byproducts. This is an additional critical benefit to the State’s environmental protection due to the removal of sulfur, odor compounds, and methane emissions from naturally decaying biomass materials.
 
The Michigan Public Service Commission granted one million dollars towards the construction of the digester plant. The plant was constructed on the den Dulk Dairy, LLC farm. The plant is now operational and produces up to 200 kW from 1000 dairy cows. The following slides are a brief representation of its construction and operating performance.  Slide Show