  Pgn421 Member Username: Pgn421 Post Number: 222 Registered: 02-2005 |
Anyone have any info on this new plant to be built in the new center area? | ||
Nainrouge Member Username: Nainrouge Post Number: 457 Registered: 05-2006 |
It is planned for 250 E. Baltimore Avenue. They announced the ground-breaking last May. I haven't heard anything since, though.... | ||
Pgn421 Member Username: Pgn421 Post Number: 223 Registered: 02-2005 |
that might be a good business to invest in. ethanol, or biodiesel. the fuel of the future! | ||
Tkelly1986 Member Username: Tkelly1986 Post Number: 438 Registered: 01-2004 |
Ethanol seems like a fad. Here is Illinois, it is a pretty well know fact that ethanol is the hot topic strictly due to the lobbying efforts of ADM. Whether it is a feasible alternative to oil is questionable, with many believing it is not. | ||
Nainrouge Member Username: Nainrouge Post Number: 459 Registered: 05-2006 |
It is not a feasible substitute, IMHO, but could definitely be a good supplement to oil. I am excited about the experiments in using other types of plants (such as algae) to produce bio fuels that would not use up current crop lands. Corn is a lousy crop for bio fuel production, by the way. | ||
Umcs Member Username: Umcs Post Number: 412 Registered: 06-2007 |
Corn is lousy for ethanol. ADM and/or anyone else shooting for ethanol needs to develop a method to mass produce it based on algae and/or switchgrass. The yield per acre and resulting gallon of ethanol from refining it does not add up if you use corn or sugarcane. | ||
Fishtoes2000 Member Username: Fishtoes2000 Post Number: 363 Registered: 06-2005 |
The Road Commission of Oakland County announced today that they are switching over to biodiesel for their vehicles. They are projecting a $50K annual savings primarily due to reduced maintenance requirements. | ||
Diesel Member Username: Diesel Post Number: 37 Registered: 01-2007 |
The project at 250 E. Baltimore is aspiring to be complete in the first quarter of 2008. From what I've read all subcontractors are in place and ready to begin. The General Contractor running the project is DeMaria Construction. The site has been cleared and staked off for a couple weeks. Anyone have any idea how many people this place will employ on a regular basis? (Non Construction Employees) | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4098 Registered: 02-2005 |
This is a great industry to have in that part of the city. To reiterate, they are manufacturing biodiesel, not ethanol-substituted gasoline. On top of the news Fishtoes mentions, Ann Arbor already has a large and growing fleet of biodiesel-hybrid buses. | ||
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 1435 Registered: 11-2004 |
Which side of Baltimore is this plant going on? Are we talking the train tracks side of the block, the other side nearest Grand Blvd or both? | ||
Motor Member Username: Motor Post Number: 8 Registered: 07-2006 |
Diesel I believe the Detroit BioDiesel facility will be much smaller than the one recently opened in Adrian Michigan (also DeMaria Construction). The Adrian Plant I think has 5 maintenance workers, 3 lab techs and 4 in the office. This will not be a big employment plant. | ||
Rfban Member Username: Rfban Post Number: 215 Registered: 02-2004 |
Are they going to have a fill up station? Currently the closest bio is in Centerline. | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 721 Registered: 07-2007 |
These are corporate lobbyists pushing ethanol on us so ADM and all the other tax subsidized corporations can get hundreds of millions in tax payer subsidies. In reality they need to drill for more oil, open more refineries add some nuke plants and put good money to solar and wind power on a mass scale. | ||
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 1441 Registered: 11-2004 |
Yeah, but what makes good business sense and what makes good political sense can be, and often are, two very different things. Ethanol in its current form and things like biodiesl will be here to stay as long as Iowa votes first in presidential primaries. | ||
Rfban Member Username: Rfban Post Number: 216 Registered: 02-2004 |
There is nothing wrong with biodiesel. You just have to understand that it is an additional fuel and not a substitute fuel. With the price of Diesel right ($3.69) now it makes me wonder if Gasoline prices are being subsidized by raising (or not refining) enough Diesel. This would be a good way to distribute the fuel load price into our every day products without people “freaking” out. Most of the world’s commerce runs on Diesel. | ||
Nainrouge Member Username: Nainrouge Post Number: 496 Registered: 05-2006 |
quote: Lefty2=clueless It is a biodiesel plant not ethanol. Do you understand the difference? | ||
Crew Member Username: Crew Post Number: 1384 Registered: 02-2004 |
Question: Do biodiesel plants have an offensive smell? I have no idea if they do but I can imagine them smelling like the incenerator in the Summer. | ||
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 1443 Registered: 11-2004 |
A quick google search give us: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2 006/08/22/update-on-the-smell- of-biodiesel/ http://www.npr.org/templates/s tory/story.php?storyId=5280124 http://www.mitechnews.com/arti cles.asp?id=5749 | ||
Nainrouge Member Username: Nainrouge Post Number: 501 Registered: 05-2006 |
I am not sure but diesels running WVO (waste vegetable oil) smell like french fries. Mmmmm! | ||
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 1444 Registered: 11-2004 |
Looks like a combo of sources for the Detroit plant. http://www.modeldmedia.com/dev elopmentnews/biodieselindustri es9507.aspx | ||
The_ed Member Username: The_ed Post Number: 1349 Registered: 10-2007 |
"Looks like a combo of sources for the Detroit plant." Did someone say combo? Does that come with a salad? | ||
Rfban Member Username: Rfban Post Number: 217 Registered: 02-2004 |
When I fuel with bio the exhaust smells slightly like oil splashing down into the bar-b-que. It's much less offensive than petro-diesel, dosen't seem smoky and makes the engine quite. Not sure about the plant--I doubt it. (Message edited by rfban on December 07, 2007) | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4114 Registered: 02-2005 |
Exactly, Nainrouge. I have problems with subsidies for ethanol...a handout to the heartland with no price benefits to consumers, but this is a horse a different color, because corn, which traditionally gets all the subsidies, seems secondary to this operation. More importantly, they are not substituting ethanol into unleaded gasoline, but brewing an entirely seperate type of fuel. I do believe this will be on the rail tracks. Here's a photo of the big wigs breaking ground with the tracks right behind them: http://demariabuild.com/Pages/ latest-news.php. That will, of course, help them with distribution. I don't know about a pumping station, but that would be amazing. My father would be thrilled as he drives a diesel car and works a few blocks away. They should offer a discount contract to supply fuel for Detroit buses or public works trucks. They could amass a quick customer base and get positive press. | ||
Nainrouge Member Username: Nainrouge Post Number: 505 Registered: 05-2006 |
I do not support subsidies for corn based ethanol either. That is not what this plant will produce, however. It is my understanding that there will be a pumping station for biodiesel. I am not sure if it will be at the plant or at Next Energy. | ||
Diesel Member Username: Diesel Post Number: 38 Registered: 01-2007 |
Good for the neighborhood? What are your opinions about the effect on the neighborhood around the new plant once they are moved in? There are already several businesses and residential buildings close by. I want to think that any investment in the neighborhood is a positive. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4119 Registered: 02-2005 |
Something highly productive is being put on a vacant lot. It's a neighborhood called "Techtown," and the rail tracks are being utilized. It's damn good and I'd be pretty confident that the pollution will not be anywhere near the quantity or have anything like the characteristics of the incinerator's. | ||
Rfban Member Username: Rfban Post Number: 218 Registered: 02-2004 |
Oil (used/new-most likely new soy) + Methanol + Heat = Biodiesel | ||
Motor Member Username: Motor Post Number: 9 Registered: 07-2006 |
Heard a rumor that this job is a no go. Owner does not have financing. |
