MMPA and DD Biofuel break ground on the world’s lowest carbon intensity dairy ethanol plant.
Today, with its partner, the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA), DD Biofuel broke ground on a state-of-the-art facility in Constantine, Michigan, that will transform 16,000 metric tonnes of milk permeate leftover from dairy processing into 2.3 million gallons of low carbon ethanol a year. Many of the people who contributed to the project attended the event and they shared what the project means for MMPA, the local community and America’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel goals.
MMPA CEO Joe Diglio kicked off the event by explaining how, in 2019, MMPA started producing ultra-filtered milk to better serve the needs of their customers. The ultrafiltration produces 16,000 metric tonnes of a lactose rich liquid byproduct called milk permeate each year. MMPA evaluated drying the permeate but couldn’t justify the capital investment. So they ended up sending it offsite for animal feed. Looking for more value, MMPA reached out to Dairy Distillery who proposed using the permeate to make clean energy. Diglio explained “this project encapsulates the goals of the organization, adding value for its members but going beyond that to do ‘a good thing for the planet’”’ by creating low carbon fuel used on the road and as a feedstock for aviation fuel.” Doug Chapin, the Chairman of the Board at MMPA, echoed Diglio’s remarks and expressed his hope that Constantine “would be an example for dairies around the world.”
DD Biofuel CEO, Omid McDonald, recounted the challenges of getting the Constantine project off the ground, “We’ve had to climb a mountain of paperwork, cut reels of red tape and align dozens of stakeholders.
In his remarks, John Berge, the Acting Deputy Administrator at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) explained, “When I learned what you can do with permeate, I thought ‘Wow this is opening up a whole new world. We have 22,000 dairies in the United States, somewhere in the neighborhood of eight million cows, that produces a lot of permeate…You think about that on a grander scale, we could be fuelling my flight back from Detroit.” He described this opportunity to make a low carbon fuel and use a waste product, is a “win all the way around.”
Mark Honeysett, the Constantine Village Manager’s shared his community’s concerns about the project, “people were worried about the threat of an explosion or bad smells”. Honeysett described how both the MMPA and DD Biofuel teams worked to address everyone’s concerns, “It was clear to me that they wanted to be a good neighbor”. The project will see the creation of 12 new jobs in the community, removal of 40 trucks a week from the roads and unburdening the Village’s wastewater system.
The skies cleared during the speeches, allowing photographs of those contributing to the project to have their photo taken with shovel in hand. The ceremony wraped up with a lunch featuring Vodkow vodka cocktails and dairy products made at the Constantine dairy. MMPA staff members Brad Parks, Molly Costaris, Jeannie Strain and Gillian Pylar were in attendance. Banks supporting the project were represented by Tom Fink (Pathward) and, Michael Minnihan (Co-Bank).
