King of Sweden Visits Michigan
Last week, Michigan had the honor to host His Majesty Carl XVI Gustav, King of Sweden, for a summit on clean energy and a historic groundbreaking event for a new biogas facility in Flint. Sweden has long been recognized as a world leader in alternative and renewable energy; creating 400,000 jobs in a country that has about the same population, size, and physical qualities as our state. By following their path, we, too, could become a leader in advancing the growth of new energy technologies that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil. From the Detroit News-
Carl XVI Gustaf, the king of Sweden, appeared in Dearborn and Flint to tout his country’s successes as a world leader in alternative energy development. His appearance was spurred by Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s visit last year to Sweden, which has set a goal of total oil independence by 2020.
“Sweden has shown that it is possible to combine the reduction of gas emissions with the economic growth,” the king told a packed ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton in Dearborn. “The use of oil has decreased in Sweden, while bio-energy has grown. So Sweden has made progress toward a better environment, but maybe not fast enough. Further action is urgently needed.”
The king appeared with Granholm at a clean energy summit in Dearborn, which focused on issues such as global climate change and advanced energy solutions with business, academic and international leaders in the field.
Michigan recently created the “Centers of Energy Excellence” program based on ideas gathered from Governor Granholm’s visit to Sweden. $45 million will be allocated to “to establish and administer the COEE program, which will support the development, growth and sustainability of alternative energy clusters by identifying and/or locating a base company with the necessary business and supply-chain infrastructure. The COEE program will match the base companies with universities, national labs, and training centers to accelerate next-generation research, workforce development, and commercialization.”
The three centers approved so far are as follows-
Sakti3 – This Ann Arbor-based company will receive $3 million from the COEE program to establish a center focused on next-generation lithium battery technologies and processes. The proprietary technologies enable the manufacture of battery cells in Michigan instead of overseas. The University of Michigan will contribute research on battery lifecycles. Swedish Biogas International – Swedish Biogas International will utilize $4 million from the COEE program to launch a waste-to-energy/biomethane center at the city of Flint’s waste water treatment facility. The project will draw upon 15 years of experience that Swedish Biogas has in operating three waste-to-energy facilities in Sweden. Kettering University is a partner in the project and will collaborate with Linköping University in Sweden. Kettering will work toward adapting municipal vehicles so that they can utilize the bio-methane as fuel. Kettering’s incubator will also serve as the initial headquarters for SBI’s North American operations, providing a launching point for expanding the use of this technology throughout Michigan and North America. The C.S. Mott Foundation and Swedish agencies are also partnering on the project. Mascoma Corporation – The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company will use $20 million from the COEE program to establish a cellulosic ethanol center in Kinross (eastern Upper Peninsula). The center will utilize the abundant timber resources in the area, producing fuel from nonfood, cellulosic crops (wood). Michigan State University and Michigan Technical University will focus on improving the supply chain for woody biomass feedstock.
King Gustav attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Swedish Biogas International Center of Energy Excellence Project in Flint. WNEM TV5 from Flint has the video-
The project to transform waste into energy to run Flint’s city buses will be the first of its kind in the nation, putting Michigan as a leader in this cutting edge technology and creating hundreds of jobs as well.
The production facility will convert waste to biogas for use in the Flint bus system. The technology has been used in the Swedish city of Linkoping for 15 years. The project, which will provide about 700 jobs, is the only one of its kind in the United States.
“If you can create fuel for buses at half the cost, you’re going to save significantly on the cost to run those diesel buses,” said K. Joel Berry, head of mechanical engineering at Kettering University, at Friday’s session in Dearborn.
Read the state release on the ceremony for further local reaction from elected officials and Kettering University.
Our deepest thanks go out to King Gustav for honoring our state with his visit!
