Minimizing our FootPrint

In addition to regulatory-related environmental activities, we are engaged in a number of voluntary programs to reduce the impact of our facility operations on the environment.

As an energy company, we recognize our unique position at the intersection of economic and environmental progress. We're committed to meeting today's energy demands without sacrificing the needs of future generations. That means using today's technology responsibly with a diverse mix of fuels to provide reliable, affordable and environmentally sound energy while rapidly developing and deploying tomorrow's innovative energy solutions.

Renewable Energy

We actively research and implement innovative solutions to meet society's growing energy needs. Working with subsidiaries, industry partnerships and government agencies, we're developing the future of electricity generation and natural gas production and pursuing sustainable energy alternatives.

• Wind   -- A project team is assessing wind power development in the Thumb region of Michigan, based on the potential wind speeds off Lake Huron. Project development will take upwards of 2-3 years depending on permitting requirements, transmission system needs, possible environmental impacts, and the needs of the local community.
• GreenCurrents^SM -- We offer a program whereby customers can elect to pay a little more on their electricity bills in order to encourage the development of renewable energy sources in Michigan.
• Solar  -- In 1996, Detroit Edison partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Utility Photovoltaic Group to develop SolarCurrents®, one of the first programs in the nation that offered customers the choice of purchasing solar power through the electrical grid for a premium, or "green" power rate. We currently operate a Hydrogen Technology Park demonstration project in Southfield, Michigan.
• Biomass -- DTE Biomass Energy captures the methane in landfills and abandoned coal mines and converts it into a renewable source of energy that can generate steam, electricity, fuel for industrial processes or pipeline quality gas.

Carbon Sequestration

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a contributing factor to global climate change. Carbon sequestration refers to the process of removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere or an industrial process, and either converting the gases or holding them in storage. One way to sequester CO2 from the atmosphere is to plant trees. Trees turn CO2 into oxygen through photosynthesis.

• As a member of the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, DTE Energy is participating in the demonstration project near Gaylord that will test the feasibility of using the Michigan Basin to inject CO2 deep underground for permanent storage.
  
• Since 1995 DTE Energy has planted over 22 million trees in Michigan, including 180 acres of agricultural land in the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge.
  
• We fund an annual Urban Forestry Grant program administered by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources that has awarded grants to 95 Michigan communities since 1998.
  
• We are a leading partner in PowerTree Carbon Co, LLC, a voluntary consortium of 25 U.S. power companies engaged in six bottomland hardwood forest restoration projects in the lower Mississippi River valley.
  
• At an international level, we partner with the Nature Conservancy and Programme for Belize to preserve an endangered Central American rain forest.  See the video above.
• We not only plant new trees, we care for existing trees in a responsible manner. We follow national arborist standards in clearing utility lines, and since 1995 have continuously earned the Tree Line USA Utility Award from the National Arbor Day Foundation.
  

Pollution Prevention

• We are a charter member of the EPA's voluntary WasteWi$e program to reduce office waste.
  
• Our comprehensive recycling program includes the recycling of ash from coal combustion.
  
• Recycling old industrial sites is also important. We are at the forefront of brownfield redevelopment and led Michigan's efforts for regulatory changes to promote this effort.

PCB Reduction

• PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) were used for decades throughout the country by electrical utilities as a fire retardant in the insulating oil in electrical equipment. Detroit Edison ceased purchasing any new PCB containing equipment in 1976, before the passage of the Toxic Substances Control Act and removed PCB-containing capacitors from public access areas in July 1984, four years ahead of a federal deadline. We continue to phase-out PCB-containing equipment as part our participation in the EPA's voluntary program.

Air Quality

• Detroit Edison installed the very first electrostatic precipitator at its Trenton Channel Power Plant in 1924. Modern precipitators now remove nearly 99 percent of particulate emissions.
  
• In 1974, Detroit Edison pioneered the use of low-sulfur Western coal, contributing to a 64 percent reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions between 1974 and 2006.
  
• Selective Catalytic Reduction units installed at the Monroe Power Plant, one of the largest coal-fired plants in the world, have achieved a significant reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions to date. A similar NOx reduction program is underway at other Detroit Edison power plants.