Corporations drive Michigan renewable energy projects

RENEWABLES: Corporate demand for renewable energy through voluntary utility programs is directly leading to new wind and solar project development in Michigan. (MiBiz)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• General Motors will invest $760 million at a Toledo, Ohio, manufacturing plant to build drive units for electric trucks, the automaker’s first U.S. drivetrain facility that will be repurposed for electric vehicles. (Reuters)
• ​“This is definitely going to be a learning process,” a Minnesota transportation official says as the state embarks on ambitious electric vehicle targets by 2030 amid currently low adoption across market segments. (Star Tribune)

SOLAR:
• University of Illinois researchers will analyze the potential for pollinator habitat and crops to coexist at the university’s two solar installations. (News-Gazette)
• A developer says an Illinois village’s proposed rooftop solar restrictions would discourage projects on a majority of houses. (Daily News)

UTILITIES: A new tracking tool shows that U.S. gas and electric utility front groups have spent nearly $2.5 million over the past four years on social media advertisements, many of which target customers with misinformation about climate change or energy issues. (Energy and Policy Institute)

CARBON CAPTURE: U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announces billions of dollars in federal aid for carbon capture projects as environmental advocates criticize the technology as a diversion from renewables. (Inside Climate News)

CLIMATE:
• Conservative clean energy advocates urge northern Ohio city officials to join a statewide initiative that provides technical support and guidance on clean energy. (Daily Record)
• The University of Michigan is on track to reduce its scope 1 and scope 2 emissions by 50% by 2025, according to the university’s first climate action report. (Michigan Daily)
• Indiana is among states projected to see an increase in extreme heat days in the coming decades due to climate change. (Indianapolis Star)

PIPELINES:
• A Democratic candidate for Congress in Iowa breaks from others in his party and has ​“been opposed to carbon capture pipelines since Day 1.” (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
• Many residents on the Canadian side of Lake Huron cite a lack of information about the potential environmental risks of a Line 5 pipeline spill. (The Narwhal)

ELECTRIFICATION: A Minnesota couple takes advantage of home electrification upgrades to reduce their energy bill, and hope the Inflation Reduction Act will spur others to do the same. (Bemidji Pioneer)

BIOENERGY: Environmental advocates in Gary, Indiana, raise environmental concerns about a proposed bioenergy plant along Lake Michigan. (Chicago Tribune)

COMMENTARY: A group of Iowa landowners and academics say proposed carbon pipelines are ​“poor investments and unlikely to have a meaningful effect on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” (Des Moines Register)