Why LCC?   Why Now?  What's Happening?

Fact Sheet

Alternative Energy Links

U.S. Department Of Energy

Attention teachers! Are you ready to bring alternative energy to your classroom? Lansing Community College is co-sponsoring a workshop with the Fuel Cell Store this Fall 2006. It's designed for teachers who wish to incorporate alternative energy education into their curriculum. With this conference, you'll be able to educate your students about the hydrogen economy, renewable energy and careers in this new and exciting field.   This 1 1/2-day conference is designed for K-14 science and technology teachers and school administrators. You will leave with a curriculum kit and fuel cell model for your classroom.  For more information, go to the conference website at www.H2Conference.com Hot Topic on WJR Lansing Community College's hydrogen fuel program and its students were recently featured on WJR's radio program Big Story.  Listen to the live interview   [ LISTEN - mp3 ]    hydrogen celL alternative  fuels geo thermal wind turbine solar biomass What is Alternative Energy? Hydrogen and other Alternative Fuels, Geothermal, Wind, Solar, Biomass - New Energy comes in many forms. It is the product of the latest research and traditional energy sources. New Energy is about sustainability and independence, and smarter more efficient technologies. Glossary: Renewable - A renewable energy source is defined as any energy source that is replenishable and replenished on some reasonable time scale. Renewable energy sources include, but are not limited to wind, solar, heat from the earth's interior, oceans, rivers, and biomass. Renewable material sources include, but are not limited to wood; grass fibers, plant-based plastics, fuels and 100 percent recycled content metals, papers, plastics and glass. Sustainability - There are hundreds of definitions of sustainability and sustainable development, but the best known is the one first coined by the United Nation's World Commission on Environment and Development. It suggests that development is sustainable where it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Source: Sustainable Research Group (Grand Rapids, MI)

With an eye toward the workforce and technology needs of the future, Lansing Community College developed its Alternative Energy Initiative:  a variety of programs and initiatives devoted to the need to integrate reliable, affordable, and environmentally sound energy for America’s future. 

Lansing Community College, the ninth-largest single campus community college in the nation, is uniquely positioned to be a leader in alternative energy training, education and outreach.  It is the only college in Michigan currently offering credit-based coursework in alternative fuels technology – coursework that helps create a core of knowledge, an interested student base and knowledgeable faculty ideally suited to pilot new programs.  And it is in the heart of an area with strong manufacturing and agricultural bases, a solid small-business presence and innovative entrepreneurial and research initiatives.

It also is the only Michigan member of the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium.  In addition, the college is close geographically to the state’s three research universities – the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University – and has strong programmatic ties to each.  As the community college located in Michigan’s capital city, it draws the attention of the state’s lawmakers and policy leaders and has strong bipartisan connections.

Since a century of automotive production in Michigan traditionally has been the backbone of the state’s economy, LCC has longstanding linkages with the auto industry.  It also has forged partnerships with software providers and high-tech manufacturers and suppliers.  The college’s goal is to increase the viability and deployment of renewable energy technology with an integrated educational program that will promote comprehensive training for all alternative energy applications – geothermal, wind, solar, biomass and fuel cell.

LCC prepares technicians to support alternative energy technologies before they reach the marketplace. 

LCC “walks the talk”, using alternative energy to heat, cool and operate a its new technical training complex, demonstrating new technologies as well as providing a live training ground for those who in the future will build, operate and repair alternative energy systems.

LCC, which educates more than 34,000 students each year, is responsive to changes in the Michigan economy, which can foreshadow changes in traditional manufacturing states nationwide. Michigan is home to 10 automotive engine plants and five transmission plants, employing almost 27,000 people.  Those workers must be prepared to produce and maintain alternative powertrains.  On the environmental side, the state’s tourism industry – second only to manufacturing in impact – is closely tied to the state’s willingness to keep its lakeshores and forests as pollution-free and safe as possible.

Lansing Community College’s leadership in alternative energy education draws attention to the fact that today’s community college is playing a new role in a highly educated, high-tech world.  Today’s students transfer to a broad range of institutions, from regional universities to Ivy League schools.  Community college connections with industry also have evolved.  Community college involvement as new technologies are developed no longer trails that of research universities or four-year institutions.  Today, community colleges are integral to the process, helping ensure that the infrastructure is in place that help brings those technologies to the marketplace more quickly – and effectively.