When Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm arrived at Calvin Tuesday to discuss alternative energy, she was driving, appropriately enough, a car wrapped in a corn-on-the-cob advertisement for ethanol fuel.

Granholm came to hear a presentation on wind turbine energy at Calvin in the Bunker Interpretive Center by the group of engineering students that have labored on the project for the past few years.

Six engineering students each described a different aspect of the project to place a turbine on Calvin’s campus, which is expected to generate two kilowatts of energy for the main electrical grid. (Calvin’s total energy consumption averages about 2,000 to 3,000 kilowatts.) Using a grant received from the state of Michigan, they hope to complete the project this spring.

Senior Jordan Beekhuis described the history of Calvin’s Wind Energy Interest Group, a group of students who volunteer their time ...

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