Bloomington, Ill. – June 29, 2023 – Warner Petroleum Corporation, a second-generation, family-owned company that provides marine fueling services in the Great Lakes region via terminal positions in Chicago and Detroit, recently joined the B20 Club.
The B20 Club of Illinois, a partnership between the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) checkoff program and the American Lung Association, recognizes a select group of Illinois-based organizations with strong commitments to run fleets on biodiesel blends of 20 percent or greater. The B20 Club also welcomes affiliate and associate members with strong support for the growth and deployment of biodiesel. The Club welcomed its newest member on April 24, 2023.
“What excites me about being a member of the B20 Club, in addition to the environmental-friendliness of biodiesel, is the supply chain,” said Jason Smith, Vice President of Marketing Supply for Warner Petroleum Corporation. “One of the things I think is a unique opportunity here is that we actually have the feedstock. So, if you ran a benefit-cost analysis well above and beyond biodiesel consumption, you’re also mitigating a massive amount of miles for trucks and trains.”
Warner Petroleum Corporation runs its tugboats on biodiesel and utilizes a fuel flat to provide B20 blends to marine customers and tank trucks. The use of their biodiesel is primarily driven by the domestic fleets on the lakes but does have potential to go international with Canadian customers. Exploring biodiesel since its infancy, Warner Petroleum Corporation has been excited to see biodiesel demand grow in the Midwest, especially since there is so much produced in the Great Lakes region.
“One of the immediately beneficial things about getting biodiesel on vessels is that you’re making an impact right away versus a truck,” said Smith. “Fueling one boat with biodiesel is like filling anywhere from 300 to 700 trucks, so that really allows us to make a big impact.”
The use of biodiesel in marine vessels is a relatively new and growing market for the biodiesel industry. As marine operators look to decarbonize their operations, biodiesel is a non-toxic and biodegradable option that is available now to lower tailpipe and carbon emissions in vessels operating on the Great Lakes and beyond.
Warner Petroleum Corporation is being brought on as fuel marketer under the associate member category, joining Growmark, Chevron Renewable Energy Group, Incobrasa, and Targray.
To visit the B20 Club webpage, go to https://www.ilsoy.org/b20-club/.
The Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) checkoff and membership programs represent more than 43,000 soybean farmers in Illinois. The checkoff funds market development, soybean production and government relations efforts, while the membership program, Illinois Soybean Growers (ISG) and the Illinois Soybean Growers PAC actively advocates for positive and impactful legislation for farmers at local, state and national levels. ISA upholds the interests of Illinois soybean farmers through promotion, advocacy, research and education with the vision of becoming a trusted partner of Illinois soybean farmers to ensure their profitability now and for future generations.
Established in 1976, Warner Petroleum gathers, blends, distributes and transports petroleum products to a variety of traders and end users via truck and rail. The company supplies biodiesel and other marine fuel products and related services to merchant marine fleets on the Great Lakes. Its operations include the Detroit River fueling wharf, Detroit and Chicago bunkering barges and a mobile-facility certified truck tanker fleet.
