In working to mitigate our dependence on foreign petroleum, it is clear that we won’t be able to turn to a single answer to save us; a silver bullet won’t do. Michigan’s efforts show that our solution will rather be more like silver buckshot, taking the form of a diverse set of alternatives to petroleum that must be employed collaboratively and simultaneously.
Greater Lansing Area Clean Cities (GLACC) members are working today to advance a variety of fuel options. Meridian Township near East Lansing is looking into the feasibility of local and regional biodiesel production from recycled restaurant vegetable oil for use within the region. The Township’s diesel vehicles could use the fuel, and surplus biodiesel could be sold to public or private fleets or individual diesel drivers. Art Santa Cruz of local restaurant, El Azteco, is already recycling his business’ used vegetable oil to produce biodiesel.
In the shadow of the struggling auto industry, officials in Flint, Michigan and Kettering University have begun to work with Swedish Biogas International to plan a joint facility to convert the city’s wastewater into biogas. Biogas burns 95 percent cleaner and can cost up to 20 percent less than gasoline. Producing methane from sewage, landfills and manure is common in the United States. It’s often burned onsite to produce electricity rather than compressed and purified for use by vehicles. The Flint plant will be one of the first in the nation to follow Sweden, which already has 100 biogas fueling stations, making up about two percent of the country’s fuel emissions.
Similarly, Michigan waste management company Granger uses the methane from local landfills to produce electrical energy. While the Granger methane recapture is not currently used for transportation fuel, this type of production has the potential to help meet motor fuel needs.
Michigan State University (MSU) is making great advances in the development of a bioeconomy, a future in which people rely on renewable resources to meet society’s need for energy. Rooted in decades of research, the MSU Office of Biobased Technologies is working to identify, encourage and support research programs that will position Michigan State University as a world leader in the development of the bioeconomy.
Lansing Community College (LCC) offers a national Alternative Fuels Training Consortium as a component in their Automotive Technology Program. This state of the art program allows fleet managers and automotive service technicians to get training through LCC’s National Alternative Fuels Training Center to service vehicles that run on alternate sources of power. The consortium “strives to improve air quality and decrease the dependence on foreign oil by promoting, supporting and expanding the use of alternative fuel vehicles,” which is not only beneficial for the environment but offers much-needed good news for employment opportunities in Michigan.
As a young industry sector, alternative fuels and advanced vehicles can succeed best through collaboration to raise awareness about these products and their benefits to the economy as well as public and environmental health.
A diverse fuel portfolio helps to stabilize fuel prices and availability of fuel. Moving toward alternative fuels helps us all by reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. It’s important to remember that a stable economy, a healthy environment and public health are all interwoven, and respond to each other. Through working locally on a diverse range of options to alleviate our dependency on petroleum, we are working to improve all of these simultaneously.