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Great Lakes Sustainable Fuels Symposium lays groundwork for new markets

Biofuel industry partners are strategizing how to grow demand in the Great Lakes.

Scott Piggot with Michigan Corn says the state has an opportunity to build the infrastructure needed to support sustainable aviation and maritime fuel expansion.

“What we have is a special opportunity, with the only international port in the Midwest, and throw on top of that, 30 miles away, one of the largest airports in the United States,” he says. “That one airport utilizes 1.6 million gallons of fuel every day.”

National Corn Growers Association Vice President Matt Frostic tells Brownfield laying the foundation is about preserving the industry for the long-term.  

“We know that the impacts we’re trying to make today are not going to happen in one or two years or five years, it might be 10 years,” he says. “It’s thinking about that next generation. What we can do to impact and build that foundation today takes time.”

Legislation to provide biofuel tax incentives is currently pending in Michigan.

Piggot says a coalition of farmers, biofuel producers and end users is putting in motion pathways to carry the initiative to the next level.

Brownfield interviewed both during this week’s Great Lakes Sustainable Fuel Symposium in Detroit.

Scott Piggott, Michigan Corn

Matt Frostic, Michigan Farmer, NCGA