Great Lakes biodiesel map aims to connect shipping industry with suppliers

The Great Lakes Alliance for Sustainable Shipping is creating new resources to help the maritime industry access biodiesel.

Hanna Campbell helps manage the alliance with the Michigan Soybean Committee.

“It’s so incredible, I’m talking hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel going into marine vessels here,” she says. “And the nice thing about biodiesel, we talk about it all the time, it’s a drop-in fuel.”

She tells Brownfield volunteer working groups are finalizing an interactive map to find biodiesel distributors.

 “Where folks in the shipping industry, in the marine industry, will be able to hop onto this map and see what fuel distributors are offering what biodiesel blends at any given time,” she explains. “We’re also in the finishing stages of a marine biodiesel transition guide.”

The alliance is also evaluating opportunities where marine infrastructure could be expanded in the Great Lakes to move more agricultural goods as well as ways to engage young people with potential careers in trucking.

Campbell says the checkoff welcomes more farmers and stakeholders interested in supporting efforts even further.