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Michigan biodiesel usage growing in Detroit area

New federal grants will increase biodiesel usage along the Detroit River.

Pete Probst with the Michigan Advanced Biofuels Coalition tells Brownfield most traffic on the Great Lakes St. Lawerence Seaway has to pass through the Port of Detroit.

“Finding ways to get more biodiesel into those vehicles and barges is really the goal and to reduce the CO2 emissions, but also to help clean the air in the Detroit area,” he says.

He says the Warner Petroleum Corporation moves about 40 percent of the fuel on the Great Lakes from its Waterfront Petroleum Terminal on the Detroit River. A Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentives Program grant from USDA will add new biodiesel storage facilities.

“And they estimate that this is going to increase their biodiesel sales capacity by 10 million gallons per year,” he says.

Michigan Soybean Committee Vice President Scott Wilson tells Brownfield the Port could reduce it’s emissions by 75 percent if it transitioned to B100.

“That was very eye opening to understand that it’s not all the shipping, it’s the loading and unloading and the moving of cargo with semi-trucks and other freight trucks,” he shares.

Probst says an EPA Diesel Emissions Reduction Act grant was also recently awarded to Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision and Michigan Clean Cities.

“Fifty-seven trucks were included in this grant, but the exciting thing is there was one marine vessel,” he explains. “The marine vessel is going to be a tugboat used by Gaelic Tug on the Detroit River. The tugboat’s going to be B20 ready and we think it’s the first time that the DERA grant has been actually used to apply for a marine vessel.”

Members of the Michigan Advanced Biofuels Coalition shared successes from the past year with farmers and other stakeholders during their recent Biodiesel on the Riverwalk event in Detroit.

AUDIO: Pete Probst, Michigan Advanced Biofuels Coalition

Photo used with permission from Pete Probst.