Metro and Willow Run airports are partnering with the Michigan State University Extension Office and Warren-based The Power Alternative to grow and harvest grass and other bio-fuel crops so they can be turned into bio-fuel for jets and other airport vehicles.
Metro Detroit's Aerotropolis airports have about 1,700 acres of land that is suitable for bio-energy crops, like canola and oriental mustard seed near runways. The pilot phase of this initiative is planting and harvesting bio-fuel crops on three acres of airport property.
The Power Alternative will turn those crops into bio-fuel.
"We're trying to identify these different types of land that we can put into production to meet our renewable energy goals," says Dennis Pennington, a bio-energy educator for the
Michigan State University Extension Office who is heading up the project. He pins a conservative estimate of 10,000 acres of potential bio-energy crop space in the Aerotropolis area.
Metro Airport has made strides to increase its renewable energy options, including utilizing small wind turbines. Local officials see the bio-energy crops as a big opportunity to not only more sustainably supply the fuel needs of the airports, but to divert more money toward the local economy.
"If we could produce most of the jet fuel here by growing it instead of importing it from Libya, wouldn't that be preferable?" says Michael Conway, a spokesman for Metro Airport. "It's definitely worth exploring."
Source: Dennis Pennington, bio-energy educator for the Michigan State University Extension Office and Michael Conway, spokesman for Metro AirportWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at
SEMichiganStartup.com.
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