The Great Lakes Alliance for Sustainable Shipping (GLASS), a volunteer coalition focused on increasing sustainable shipping across the Great Lakes, is aligning priorities over the next year to help boost sustainability and increase biofuel demand.
The Michigan Soybean Committee (MSC) launched the program after more than two years of work to engage and bring together partners.
“We started attending meetings of transportation groups and marine industry and noticed that there weren’t really agricultural businesses or farmers at the table, [so] we decided kind of to set our own table,” explained Hanna Campbell, Director of Market Development for MSC.
GLASS met in Dearborn for its inaugural meeting in December 2024. Attendees enjoyed diverse presentations and participated in high-level discussions around the goals of the coalition, including its broad focus on agriculture and sustainability. GLASS also partnered with the Michigan Advanced Biofuels Coalition (MiABC) to highlight the important role that biofuels will play in decarbonizing the shipping sector on the Great Lakes.
“When we start talking about soy-based biodiesel as a fuel for [shipping vessel operators], it works extremely well,” Campbell said. “It’s something that we already see happening all over the Great Lakes and a lot of people that aren’t using blends right now or are using very low blends were already talking about how they could increase that.”
GLASS presenters also covered that exporters want more comparative information about shipping costs across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway (GLSLS), including information on an action group that will be exploring price discovery options for the GLSLS over the next year.
“We had some of our ag shippers in the room talking about when they’re looking to ship an agricultural product, they’re given certain shipping options, and given the cost for those,” she shared. “At this point, a lot of them are saying Great Lakes marine shipping out the St. [Lawrence] Seaway is not one of those cost comparisons.”
Campbell says as more carbon reduction goals are implemented, biodiesel demand from the Great Lakes marine industry is expected to exceed what the state can produce and should benefit soybean farmers throughout the region.
After the inaugural event in Dearborn, GLASS released the following priorities:
Shipping Price Visibility
Analyze and compare the price of shipping a container of soybeans via the St. Lawrence Seaway at a specific time of year versus other routes, such as the Gulf, PNW, etc. and create a digestible one-page document to share the results.
Infrastructure Survey
Survey existing marine shipping infrastructure in the Great Lakes capable of handling agricultural products, identifying infrastructure previously used for agricultural goods that are now repurposed or decommissioned as well as infrastructure currently used for other goods that could be adapted for agricultural shipping.
Midwest Agricultural Export Information
Gather and provide succinct information on Midwest agricultural products, their export volumes, destination regions, and current shipping methods with input from agricultural businesses, exporters, organizations, and other stakeholders.
Great Lakes Biodiesel Exploration
Assess current biodiesel usage in the Great Lakes marine sector, determine available biodiesel supplies, and provide a step-by-step guide for transitioning vessel fleets or onshore equipment to biodiesel.
