A mid-Michigan township has formed a partnership with
Central Michigan University to research the viability and effectiveness of local wind power.
Union Township, near Mt. Pleasant, was granted funding from the state to do research on two different kinds of wind turbines, both on a residential scale. Both have been installed at Union Township Hall in Mt. Pleasant, the first turbines in the area.
So the township is taking advantage of the local experts on the subject of wind power: Central Michigan University's Great Lakes Institute for Sustainable Systems. The institute and the township will partner to complete the research.
Before the turbine installations, CMU researchers gathered 20 years worth of wind speed data from airports across the state to figure out if the wind turbines would be effective in Mid Michigan. Currently, they are collecting air speed readings, combined with the power generated by the turbines, which also will help determine their efficiency.
"Alternative energy like wind powered energy and solar powered energy is really the energy of the future," says Tom Rohrer, director of the Great Lakes Institute for Sustainable Systems. "We need to develop sustainable energy systems, and wind and solar look like they are going to be very viable."
While this is the first such research project for the institute, Rohrer says they plan to develop more collaborative partnerships with local governments, nonprofits, or businesses, in the Great Lakes region.
Writer: Sam EgglestonSource: Tom Rohrer, CMU Great Lakes Institute for Sustainable Systems
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.