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Introduction

Michigan Renewable 
  Energy Success Stories

Our Energy Challenges

The History of 
  Renewable Energy Use

What WE Can Do With 
  Energy Efficiency 
    and Renewables

Summary

Review Worksheet

Sources for More 
  Information


Table of Contents  

Michigan’s Renewable Energy  and Efficiency Success Stories

Use Energy More Efficiently
There are many opportunities to lessen pollution by reducing energy use within our homes. Light bulbs are a great example. Ordinary (incandescent) light bulbs are very inefficient; most of the electricity they use is converted to heat, not light, wasting fossil fuels and increasing pollution. Compact fluorescent bulbs produce as much light with only one fourth of the electricity. Not only does this save money and energy and reduce pollution, it also reduces the amount of energy needed to cool homes and offices in the summer. These bulbs cost more to purchase, but the electricity they save more than pays for the difference. As a bonus, they last ten times as long as an incandescent bulb, so you don’t have to replace them very often. Compact fluorescents are now sold side by side with regular (incandescent) light bulbs in local stores. Talk to the adults in your household about using efficient, compact fluorescent bulbs to cut electricity bills.

 Hot water heaters are another great opportunity to use energy wisely. Most hot water heaters lose about as much heat through their top and sides as they put into the water. This makes the gas or electric heating element run more often than necessary. Wrapping the hot water heater in an insulating blanket can cut this heat loss in half. For less than $15 and a few minutes of your time to install the blanket, you can make a real difference in the amount of energy your hot water heater uses! Such an investment often provides a 25% to 100% annual return. Water heater wraps are for sale in most hardware or home improvement stores.

When buying new appliances such as a clothes washer, dryer, dishwasher, furnace, hot water heater, TV, VCR, DVD player, or computer, look for an Energy Star^® label. The U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency awards this symbol to only the most energy efficient appliances. They use less energy to accomplish the same task as other appliances. This is especially important when buying a refrigerator or air conditioner, because these systems use more electricity than any other appliance in your home. For more information on Energy Star^®, see: http://www.energystar.gov/products/forhome.shtml and http://www.sbam.org/resource/energystar/home.html

Entire buildings including office buildings, hospitals, grocery stores, schools, hotels, and homes can also be Energy Star^® rated. For a listing of Energy Star^® homebuilders in Michigan, see: http://yosemite1.epa.gov/estar/homes.nsf/BUILDER?OpenForm&State=MI

Create Your Own Success Story
There are hundreds of thousands of homes across Michigan using renewable energy to provide some portion of their energy needs. While some systems need to be designed into a house when it’s built, most can be added onto an existing home. There are dozens of solar contractors in Michigan who can install manufactured systems on your home. Solar hot water heaters and solar space heaters are available to anyone with a home and a view of the sky. Solar swimming pool heaters are especially cost effective. You can even supply your own electricity using solar cells (photovoltaics) or a wind turbine.

As an alternative to buying a renewable energy system, you can build your own. Adding a solar space heater to a home is a good do-it-yourself project. Plans for a simple solar hot air collector are available online at: http://urbanoptions.org/SustainEdHandbook/BuildYourOwnSolarAirCollector.htm

Buy Green Power
Not everyone can add a renewable energy system to his or her home. You may live in an apartment building, rent a dwelling, or have a heavily shaded house in a forest. You can still use renewable energy by buying "green power". Michigan now allows every home and business to choose the company that will supply them with electricity. Some suppliers guarantee that a certain percentage of their energy (up to 100%) comes from clean, renewable sources. By purchasing your electricity from them, you’re supporting the construction of more renewable energy systems. For more information on this option, see:
http://www.green-e.org/your_e_choices/michigan.html (the blanks in this web address are underscores).

U.S. House of Representatives
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

U.S. Senate
http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm

Michigan House of Representatives
http://www.house.state.mi.us/LocateRep.html

Michigan Senate
http://www.senate.state.mi.us/SenatorInfo/find-your-senator.htm

Keep Learning
The world of energy is a fascinating place. Much of the study of science and engineering is about energy – how it’s converted from one form to another and transported from one place to another. Understanding energy is also important when studying ecology, because many of our environmental problems are a result of energy production and use. Many of the important decisions facing our society are related to our use of energy. Even our nation’s foreign affairs are being shaped by our present need to find supplies of oil and gas. As a citizen of the world, it is important to understand the implications of where we choose to get our energy and how we use it.