EVENT DETIALS: Harbert is scheduled to arrive in Muskegon at the Alternative and Renewable Energy Center at 2:15 p.m. She will be given a tour of the facility by MAREC executive director Imad Mahawili to learn what the center is doing to promote alternative energy -- including an innovative biomass-to-energy program that harnesses power from animal waste. H. James Williams, the dean of the Seidman College of Business will also be in attendance, along with many business leaders from the Muskegon area.
The Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center is a business incubator and research and development center for alternative and renewable energy technologies. It is also a major demonstration project of those technologies. Located on the Muskegon waterfront, MAREC serves as an example of a distributed system using renewable energy sources, including a microturbine, a fuel cell that turns natural gas into electricity, photovoltaic cells to capture the sun's energy, and a nickel metal hydride battery system to store excess energy from peak times for use later. It is thought to be the first building of its kind to use all of those technologies to become completely self-sufficient.
MAREC is one of 11 SmartZones created by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. in 2001 as part of an effort to promote and attract high technology business development in the state. Grand Valley was the only university in the state to be granted two SmartZones -- one in Grand Rapids and one in Muskegon.
