A consortium has been established in Michigan to convert 14,000 tons of milk permeate, a dairy by-product, into 2.2 million gallons of ethanol annually. The projected date of operation is the 4th Quarter of 2025.
A plant with a capital cost of $41million will be erected with funding supplied by the Michigan Strategic Fund and CoBank. USDA has contributed funding through the Inflation Reduction Act.
The justification for the project is questioned on the grounds of financial feasibility and sustainability. Dairy permeate comprises 4 percent protein and 80 percent carbohydrate, mainly in the form of lactose. These are potential food ingredients with functional properties.
A use other than fuel ethanol should be considered. There does not seem to be much point in feeding cows, processing milk and then turning residue into ethanol. But in this age of subsidies and mandates the project is indirectly subsidized by taxpayers for the benefit of a small group of milk producers and processors.
To place the volume of ethanol production in perspective, 2.2 million gallons of annually represents 0.6 percent of daily U.S. ethanol production averaging one million gallons per day.