Michigan is known the world over for being the state that put the world on wheels.  This might soon change, reports the Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center, as Michigan is becoming a leader in North American renewable-energy jobs and green technology.

Nationwide, Michigan ranks fourth in the number of jobs tied to solar energy and first in clean-energy patents. Old line manufacturing companies are diversifying and re-tooling to make renewable energy equipment for growing markets. Michigan is home to nearly 200 solar and wind supply chain companies with more than 4,000 jobs tied to the wind industry and 6,300 to the solar industry. Clean tech is our fastest growing sector, with $10 billion in announced clean energy development investments in the pipeline.

What does this mean? Real jobs and real economic opportunity for Michigan.

To read the report in its entirety, click here.

The other day as I was pumping gas I heard a gentleman behind me cursing the three-dollars-a-gallon he was going to have to shell out. Although I completely empathize, I also know that Michigan is fast becoming a leader in the development of alternative energy sources. Companies excelling in the solar, advanced battery, biofuel and wind industries are choosing to locate and grow here. United Solar Ovonic, the world’s largest producer of photovoltaic, thin-film solar panels, recently built a new $132 million-solar panel plant in Greenville and plans for its fourth Michigan manufacturing facility to begin operations there next year. Adaptive Materials, the recognized world leader in the design and development of portable fuel cell technology, is growing its R&D operations in Pittsfield Township. Massachusetts-based Mascoma Corporation is planning to build in Michigan what may me the nation’s first commercial-scale biorefinery using wood as a feedstock. Thunder Bay Development LLC recently announced plans to purchase and upgrade an idled manufacturing facility in Alpena to produce iron castings for wind turbines. All of these projects point to Michigan as a leader in the development of alternative energy technology and fuels that will one day bring our nation’s dependence on foreign oil to an end.