Skilling the Workforce and Leading an Equitable Clean Energy Transition
Manufacturing regions have long been looking for a spark to revitalize communities and bring jobs to areas that have lost workers to automation and market transition. In Normal, Illinois, that spark has been found by way of electric vehicle manufacturing. The Great Lakes region is experiencing a renaissance of sorts in high-tech manufacturing that is […]
Sustainable Great Lakes: A Regional Assessment of Sustainability in the Binational Great Lakes Megaregion
For over fifty years, governments around the world, including in Canada, have discussed the importance of sustainability or sustainable development. One of the more prominent undertakings was the Rio Summit in Brazil in 1992, which led to the creation of Agenda 21. Subsequently, the Millennium Development Goals were adopted by the United Nations in 2000, […]
Recovery, Resiliency, Regeneration:
The Path to a Circular Economy in the Great Lakes Region
Climate change and the circular economy are inextricably linked. We cannot address one without the other. The tr.ansition requires recovery, resilience, and regeneration
Can Smart Cities Save the World?
Technology & Resources Available
Smart Cities could save the world. But today, cities are killing it—at least the way we currently live in them. They consume two-thirds of global energy and produce 70% of the carbon emissions. And it’s a problem growing in size: the United Nations predicts at least 68% of the global population of nearly 10 billion […]
Time to Charge Ahead:
Great Lakes Region Requires Infrastructure to Power EVs
By Tom Van Heeke The automotive industry is undergoing profound changes. For its part, General Motors (GM) is on its way to an all-electric future with a plan to have 30 electric vehicles (EVs) in our global portfolio by the end of 2025 and an aspiration to eliminate tailpipe emissions from our new light-duty vehicles […]
Green Batteries for Green Vehicles: Principles for Responsible Battery Management in Mobile Applications
Dr. Gregory Keoleian summarizes the 10 principles for green batteries, essential to Electric Vehicles.
Powering Forward: Accelerating the Bi-national Great Lakes Region’s Clean Energy Transition Report
The bi-national Great Lakes mega-region, home to 107 million Americans and Canadian and center of the United States-Canada economic partnership, enjoys a multitude of shared sectors and socio-economic strengths, as well as integrated assets such as inter-state and cross-border supply chains, transportation corridors, and energy systems between both countries, that connect, unify, and advantage the […]
Going Big: Dow CEO Calls for Bold Climate Protection
Dow CEO and Chairman Jim Fitterling calls for bold action for climate protection.
Great Lakes Company Powers Solar & Seeks to Become Even More Sustainable
Few people realize that an essential material for solar energy comes from the Great Lakes region. Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC), located in Hemlock, Michigan, is one of the world’s leading producers of polycrystalline silicon, the preferred material of leading photovoltaic manufacturers. The path to solar energy requires significant energy, however, so when HSC CEO Mark Bassett, […]
FALL 2020: Upcoming Virtual Dialogues to Address Water, Food Systems, Circular Economy & Energy
“Seek first to understand,” said Stephen Covey, in his groundbreaking work, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, “Then to be understood.” Some thirty years later, it’s still true, and the purpose of establishing a series of dialogues for the Great Lakes Region. Starting in September, the Council of the Great Lakes Region will take the […]