If there is a way to save energy and use green alternative
energy options,
Metropolitan Alternative
Energy in Midtown probably knows about it.
The 8-month-old start-up
specializes in everything green from selling and
installing E85 conversion kits
for cars to geothermal
heating and cooling systems for homes. It hopes to hire a few people within the
next couple of years as the business continues to expand.
"We have lots of avenues we're looking at," says
Lena Thompson, one of the firm's co-founders. "We're just taking our
experience and working off of it."
Lena Thompson has a 20-year history in automotive work and
focuses on selling E85 conversion kits that allow vehicles to use fuel that is
made up of up to 85 percent ethanol. The flex-fuel kits, which sell for about
$500 a pop, can be easily installed by a professional like Thompson and let
motorists use the normally cheaper
ethanol-based gas.
Thompson would also like Metropolitan Alternative Energy to
play a part in building the E85 infrastructure by bringing more E85 pumps into
the city.
"There are only two pumps in the city of Detroit," Thompson
says. "The rest are in the burbs."
Her partner Sybil Hill specializes in the systems normally
associated with alternative energy, like geothermal systems and wind energy. She is also
certified to install solar
panel systems.
Source: Lena Thompson, co-founder of Metropolitan Alternative
Energy
Writer: Jon Zemke