Oil and energy conference set
THOMPSONVILLE -- A three-day conference on how oil and energy prices are impacting Michigan's economy will be held Nov. 14-16 at Crystal Mountain Resort.
"The Conference on Michigan's Future: Energy, Economy and Environment" will feature more than 30 speakers discussing various topics including world oil reserves, energy production in Michigan, transportation opportunities and other topics.
The keynote speaker is peak oil expert and author Richard Heinberg.
The conference is organized by Local Future, a non-profit community education organization. More information is available at www.localfuture.com
Shop community, help nonprofits
TRAVERSE CITY -- The Downtown Traverse City Association will sponsor its annual "Shop Your Community Day" on Nov. 18 to raise money for local nonprofit organizations.
DTCA officials said 47 downtown merchants have signed up to donate 15 percent of their sales to the local nonprofit organization of the customer's choice. Last year's event raised more than $14,000 for non-profit groups in the area.
Grant to help area's disabled residents
TRAVERSE CITY -- Two agencies in northern Michigan will receive more than $400,000 in state and federal grant money to assist area residents with disabilities.
The Disability Network/Northern Michigan in Traverse City will get $356,054 to assist disabled people in its 10-county service area live more independently and gain employment. The agency will also work with Michigan Rehabilitation Services to provide school based events focused on employment skills, leadership and youth advocacy.
Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan is in line for $54,529 to expand job opportunities at its Paperworks Studio enterprise through daily training activities, vocational assessments and individual employee support.
Both grants were awarded through the state Department of Labor and Economic Growth.
Tellurex wins R&D; project
TRAVERSE CITY -- Tellurex Corp. secured a research and development project with several federal agencies to develop an electric generator that runs on exhaust gas.
The company is teamed with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Michigan State University on the 3-year development project through the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program. The program is a joint effort with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Tellurex officials said the project goal is to develop a 1.6 kW solid-state thermoelectric generator that uses heat from exhaust gases, to demonstrate the feasibility of saving energy from internal combustion engines in various applications. The company recently completed a related project using the same family of thermoelectric semiconductors.
Tellurex, located in Traverse City, produces thermoelectric modules for heating and cooling for the automotive, military, medical, appliance and other industries.
