The U.S. Department of Agriculture granted a rare Rural Business Enterprise Grant to the nonprofit
Michigan Land Use Institute (MLUI) to study the feasibility of a wind farm in Benzie County, just outside Traverse City.
The funds will go toward the one-year analysis of wind speed and direction on a site near Benzie Central High School owned by Traverse City filmmaker Rich Brauer, a longtime proponent of renewable energy. A 100-foot-tall weather station instrument called an anemometer will determine whether the site, known as the Brauer Energy Farm, can make enough wind to power several wind turbines.
Tom Karas of the Michigan Energy Alternatives Project (MEAP), who wrote the grant proposal for MLUI, says the award is USDA's first local or regional effort to support an energy project with potential for such a large economic impact.
MLUI and MEAP have collaborated on a renewable-energy public education campaign for Michigan during the last two years and published
20-20 by 2020: A Clear Vision for Clean-Energy Prosperity this spring.
The Michigan Land Use Institute is an independent, nonprofit research, educational, and service organization founded in 1995. More than 3,000 households, businesses, and organizations have joined the Institute in support of its mission to establish an approach to economic development that strengthens communities, enhances opportunity, and protects Michigan's unmatched natural resources.
Sources: Greening Detroit, Michigan Dept. of Energy, Labor, & Economic Growth (DELEG); MLUI
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