ADM-owned barge-fleeting operation becomes newest member of B20 Club

The B20 Club recently welcomed the American River Transportation Co. (ARTCO) as its newest member. ARTCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland Co., operates line-haul vessels, harbor boats, covered-hopper barges, tank barges, harbor and fleeting services, and a full-service shipyard. These operations allow ARTCO to deliver products to their final destination in a safe and efficient manner. ARTCO also provides a third-party towing service on the lower and upper Mississippi, and on the Illinois and Ohio rivers.

Of ARTCO’s fleet, 29 vessels are powered using biodiesel blends up to B30, consuming 22 million gallons of B20 to B30 annually. By fueling up with biodiesel, ARTCO contributes to emission reductions including 11.4 tons of particulate matter, 5.6 tons of hydrocarbons, 91.7 tons of carbon monoxide, and 42,265 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) on an annual basis.

This amount of CO2e reduction is equivalent to planting 634,001 trees or installing 1.45 million LED light bulbs.

“The Illinois Soybean Association is excited to welcome ARTCO as a new member of the B20 Club,” said Andrew Larson, ISA director of public policy and market development. “With these new partnerships, we can reduce carbon emissions all along the supply chain using a better, cleaner fuel that is grown right here in Illinois.”

Chris Boerm, ADM’s president of transportation, said, “ADM has aggressive goals to reduce our overall environmental footprint, and we are committed to making improvements throughout our entire transportation network. We are switching to less carbon-intense fuels wherever possible and, even though we’ve been using biodiesel for many years in our fleet, are very excited to announce the transition to higher biodiesel blends for our ARTCO assets and to officially join the B20 Club.”

A partnership between ISA and the American Lung Association, the B20 Club recognizes a select group of Illinois-based organizations with strong commitments to run fleets on biodiesel blends of 20 percent or greater. For more information on the B20 Club, visit www.b20club.org.

ISA checkoff and membership programs represent more than 43,000 soybean farmers in Illinois. The checkoff funds market development and utilization efforts while the membership program supports the government relations interests of Illinois soybean farmers at the local, state and national level, through the Illinois Soybean Growers. ISA upholds the interests of Illinois soybean producers through promotion, advocacy, and education with the vision of becoming a market leader in sustainable soybean production and profitability.