The US state of Michigan is poised to host what is described as the world’s lowest-carbon intensity ethanol facility and one of the dairy industry’s largest decarbonisation projects.
What will the ethanol be made from? Milk permeate, a lactose-rich dairy byproduct, will be the feedstock for the innovative project.
The initiative is a joint venture between Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA), a farmer-owneаd cooperative, and Dairy Distillery, a company based in Ontario,Canada, which has developed the technology to turn permeate into vodka. Dairy Distillery has found a use for the whey and milk permeate, most of which is currently used for low-value annual feed or discarded. It has called its alcohol product Vodkow.
The new plant that will be built at MMPA’s Constantine facility will process the dairy facility’s milk permeate into 2.2 million gallons of ethanol. This will be blended into transportation fuel for cars and trucks, offsetting carbon emissions and reducing the carbon footprint of the milk processed at Constantine by an estimated 5%.
The project is worth over USD 40 million and has received USD 2.5 million in funding from the Michigan Strategic Fund. Announced last year, the new plant is slated to start ethanol production in early 2025.