LAKE ODESSA, Mich. — A West-Michigan production plant will celebrate ten years of growth on June 26. Carbon Green Bioenergy, LLC (CGBE) is one of the country’s largest producers of biofuels, including ethanol. Since 2009, the Lake Odessa-based plant has produced over 500 million gallons of 200 proof ethanol, which it blends and distributes to multiple stations across Michigan. It even has an on-site pump, which was installed in 2013 and has sold more than 1.7 million gallons.
Carbon Green’s CEO, Mitch Miller, is encouraged by the marketplace and his company’s success within it. “More auto makers are producing lines of flex fuel autos,” Miller says. “We are making cost-efficient ethanol blends to meet consumer demands and partnering with local farmers to do it.” The plant has ground 173 million bushels of non-food corn in the last years to produce blends of E15 and E85. That corn was purchased for $648 million from local farmers, helping the local agriculture economy.
Over the past decade, Miller has overseen $20.5 million in plant upgrades, including adding staff and production capacity. Included in those upgrades are additional storage tanks, centrifuges, fermenters, as well as new technology enhancements to increase production and quality. “We are running at a high level,” Miller says, “which allows us to expand distribution for years to come.”
In 2013, Miller, along with marketing partner LEAD Marketing Agency, created the “Yellow Hose” program (yellowhose.com), which sells E85 at a lower cost-per-gallon at stations across Michigan. The initiative features E85 selling for $0.50 less per gallon than regular unleaded gasoline at 48 stations throughout Michigan. Stations offering this program showcase yellow hoses at its pumps.
Carbon Green BioEnergy, LLC is an ethanol-producing plant located in Lake Odessa, Michigan. The company was established in June 2009, when investors purchased the property.
