Michigan dairy farmers and a Canadian distillery plan to transform milk into a $41.1 million investment in biofuels.
The Michigan Milk Producers Association, a farmer-owned cooperative of more than 1,000 dairy farmers with two processing plants in the state, created a joint venture with Dairy Distillery, of Ontario, which produces a milk-based vodka called Vodkow.
The venture plans to add onto a 30,000-square-foot facility in southwestern Michigan so it can process a byproduct called milk permeate into 2.2 million gallons of ethanol annually for use in cars and trucks starting in 2025, Crain's Detroit Business reported. That amount of ethanol, when blended with gasoline, can offset 14,500 metric tons of carbon a year.
By using technology developed by Dairy Distillery, which began turning milk permeate into vodka in 2018 and into hand sanitizer during the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan dairy farmers hope to create more value for the milk…