Chrysler may be slow to the party in introducing production hybrids and electric vehicles, but that doesn't mean they haven't been working on cleaner energy. The company has been cooperating with university researchers on growing biofuel feed stocks on brownfield sites, for example. They have also been growing potential biofuel crops at their Chelsea, MI proving ground as an alternative to grass. The company's latest effort is a wind power project, also at the Chelsea track.

The first stage of the project will take place over the next year and a half at Chelsea with the construction of a 264ft tall test tower. The tower will be used to collect meteorological data that will be analyzed in conjunction with the University of Michigan, North Coast Wind and Power and Washtenaw county. Most wind power projects are built near coastal areas or large flat regions in order capture the most undisturbed winds. This project will look at the viability of wind power at higher altitudes. If the data proves favorable, Chrysler will consider construction of wind turbines on the property while the county will look at adding more capacity in the surrounding area. The Chrysler press release is after the jump.

We already knew about Nissan's installation of wind turbines in its Sunderland plant and solar panels in its Barcelona plant. This sort of greening up is, indeed, a good idea, an idea which Toyota is now copying for its engine plant in Flintshire, Wales.

Flintshire County Council is likely to approve Toyota's installation of a temporary wind monitoring mast. The 60-meter mast, at the southern end of the plant site, would monitor wind speeds at various heights over 12 months, to determine the viability of wind power.

The plant already uses osmosis-purified rainwater but saving CO₂ with wind turbines is surely a step ahead: casting, machining and smelting use a lot of energy.

[Source: icWales (thanks Domenick for the tip)]

The Corn Plus ethanol plant in Winnebago, Minnesota is actively working to eliminate all external sources of energy for their production process. They already eliminated more than half of their natural gas consumption by installing a fluid-bed reactor to burn biomass, including the corn syrup that is a by-product of the ethanol production process.

Now in a joint project with Renewable Energy Solutions and John Deere Wind Energy, workers at the plant are installing two wind turbines by March 1, 2007. The wind turbines will generate 4.2 megawatts of power that will replace 45 percent of the electricity used by the plant. They had a hard time finding turbines at a reasonable cost because of skyrocketing demand for wind power. This moves the plant a big step closer to energy self-sufficiency.

[Source: Mankato Free Press]