A green initiative with roots in Ann Arbor is branching out to Southwest Michigan.
The
Clean Energy Coalition will work for nine months in 2012 to support efforts to reduce petroleum consumption and emissions from vehicles. Outreach and education events are planned to show business owners how they can save money through green initiatives.
Clean Energy Coalition is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting clean energy technologies as a way to create healthier, energy independent communities. Its goal is to foster a consensus to bring new clean vehicle projects to the area.
Clean Energy Coalition Project Manager Aaron Champion will serve as the Clean Cities Coordinator for the region. He will meet with fleet managers and others as he works toward making the area as eligible for Department of Energy designation that provides resources for research, discussion and work that lays the groundwork for eligibility for future federal funding.
Clean Energies already has been at work in Southwest Michigan. Champion worked with Western Michigan University officials in securing a $700,000 grant for the installation of solar panels on campus that will be used in the charging of electric vehicles.
Further work will involve meeting with those interested in building fleets of green vehicles such as those that use compressed natural gas or hybrid electric vehicles and determining how best to implement the infrastructure that makes use of those vehicles possible. For those who will be putting alternative fuel vehicles on the road, the Clean Cities program provides technical support and can help overcome obstacles.
Champion will continue to be based out of the Clean Cities Coalition’s Ann Arbor office where they employ about 20 people, but he will regularly be in Southwest Michigan.
Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave
Source; Aaron Champion, Clean Cities Coalition
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