Domestic Fuel

The world’s largest ethanol producer plans to decrease water use in the production of ethanol by 22 percent over the next five years, which would result in a savings of one billion gallons of water per year.

In a presentation to employees today, POET CEO Jeff Broin said the company is committed to producing ethanol as sustainably as possible and minimizing its impact on natural resources.

Water reduction is the first goal of Ingreenuity, POET’s new initiative to improve the environmental performance of ethanol. The reductions will come primarily through installing a proprietary process developed by POET engineers that recycles cooling water rather than discharging it. The process has recently been installed in three POET Biorefining locations which now average 2 to 2.5 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol.

To kick off the initiative, Broin announced that the POET Foundation has committed more than $420,000 to the non-profit Global Health Ministries (GHM) over the same five-year period as POET’s water reduction goal. A portion of the funds will help GHM repair, construct and maintain 90 wells in Nigeria that that will give more than 300,000 people access to pure water.

At least one ethanol industry representative has been appointed to an expert work group attempting to assess the true carbon footprint of all fuel sources under the California’s proposed Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

POET Senior Vice President of Science and Technology Mark Stowers has been appointed to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is one of 30 experts from around the world appointed to the group. The group has been charged with assisting the Board in “refining and improving the land use and indirect effect analysis of transportation fuels,” according to a CARB resolution. The group will come up with recommendations to present to CARB by Jan. 1, 2011. The group’s first meeting will be Feb. 26 in Sacramento.

“The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is an important piece of energy policy, too important to rely on theories or unproven models,” Stowers said. “As the lone representative for ethanol producers in the workgroup, I want to make sure than all carbon accounting is based on the wealth of facts and accumulated data regarding agriculture, energy and deforestation. I also want to ensure that all fuels, including oil and electricity, are held to the same accounting standards as biofuels so that the rule truly can lower carbon emissions.”

The group also includes Jesper Hedal Kløverpris of Novozymes, which produces enzymes to further the development of advanced biofuels, as well as a number of university and energy researchers – but Stowers is the only ethanol industry representative on the panel. Stowers has led efforts at POET to create new, efficient processes for producing grain-based ethanol that save energy, limit water use and improve ethanol yields. He also leads POET’s cellulosic ethanol effort, known as Project LIBERTY, which produces ethanol from corn cobs.

POET, the largest ethanol producer in the world, plans to announce plans of their process for Project LIBERTY, a 25-million-gallon-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa. According to their press release, POET’s Senior Vice President of Science and Technology Mark Stowers will speak Thursday at the F.O. Licht’s 3rd Annual Developing and Commercialising Next Generation Biofuels conference in London detailing.

Project LIBERTY’s construction is scheduled to begin this year and will use corn cobs as feedstock. POET has operated a pilot cellulosic ethanol plant in Scotland, S.D. since November 2008. The location of this new plant will be alongside the Emmetsburg grain ethanol plant making a more efficient process.

A documentary of POET’s pilot cellulosic ethanol plant can be found by clicking here.

Photo Credit: West Central Tribune

The Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) has approved an agreement for the final $5.25 million in financial assistance for Project LIBERTY, Poet’s cellulosic pilot project that will convert corn cobs to ethanol. The announcement ups the total of Iowa’s financial contributions to the project to $20 million. Poet and IDED has been in talks since 2008.

“The state has shown vision and leadership in helping our nation continue down this important path to eliminate the need for dirty and imported oil,” said Project LIBERTY Director Jim Sturdevant. “We appreciate the opportunity to partner with Iowa in commercializing cellulosic ethanol.”

Project LIBERTY is a 25 million gallon-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa that uses corn cobs as feedstock. POET plans to begin construction this year on the plant, which will be co-located with POET’s current grain-ethanol plant at the site. POET’s pilot-scale plant in Scotland, S.D. is already producing cellulosic ethanol at a rate of approximately 20,000 gallons per year.

In addition to the funds from the state of Iowa, the project has also received funds from the Department of Energy.

*post update* See more photos from the POET Project Liberty media event here.

A proposed ethanol pipeline could create nearly 80,000 jobs across the country, according to a new feasibility report.

The report, from consulting firm LECG, shows that the majority of the jobs created will be in the construction and transportation industries and the pipeline project would provide approximately 1,100 permanent jobs after construction is complete.

Ethanol producer POET formed a joint venture with Magellan Midstream Partners of Tulsa, Oklahoma to assess the feasibility of a 1,800-mile ethanol pipeline from ethanol production facilities in the Midwest, starting at Davison County, S.D., to distribution outlets in the northeast U.S., ending in Linden, N.J. Once the feasibility study is complete, the pipeline would be operational as early as 2014.

Cellulosic ethanol pioneers like Jeff Broin of POET are confident about the future of next generation fuels, even if the country fails to reach the Renewable Fuel Standard mandate of 100 million gallons of production next year.

“To be honest with you, that number was picked out of thin air, so the chance that we do or don’t make it is certainly a risk,” Broin said during an interview at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual meeting last week. “The industry is moving ahead as quickly as it can. But I think we will gain on that number in the future and I am very, very bullish about the future of cellulosic ethanol.”

POET is one of several companies on the front lines of developing cellulosic ethanol technology and feedstocks and Broin says the government has been helpful in getting some grants out to build initial plants. “Once we have the first couple plants, I believe the investment will come very quickly,” Broin said.

Broin remains bullish on corn ethanol as well as cellulosic, especially since the primary feedstock for POET’s pilot plant is corn cobs and stover. “We have plenty of grain this year, we’re going to have too much grain in the future, so we need to look at what we are going to do to turn that grain into energy and food.”

Listen to my interview with Jeff Broin from NAFB here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.7MB)

AGCO is one of the companies working on a prototype biomass harvest/transport system. At POET’s Project LIBERTY Field Day they demonstrated a pulled behind baler system to harvest corn cobs and stover.

Dean Morrell, Product Marketing Manager for Hay and Forage Harvesting, was on site and talked with me about their system. He says it’s a one pass system which utilizes combine technology and durable large square baler technology. He says the material doesn’t touch the ground and makes for a very clean bale product. They had to do some major customization on the equipment and they have two units out working in the field as part of the development process.

You can listen to my interview with Dean below.

POET Project LIBERTY Field Day Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.4MB)

I wasn’t the only one shooting video at the POET Project LIBERTY Field Day in Emmetsburg, IA. POET was too for POET TV. POET does a great job of using new media channels to communicate their activities. You can also learn more about the event by seeing their photos online and following along with their Project LIBERTY Blog.

In this video clip you’ll find:

Sitting inside a Claas Lexion 595 Combine as it goes through a corn field collecting corn and corn cobs. The cobs were carried in a Redekop H165 cob collection device towed behind the combine.

There were 16 different equipment manufacturers involved with POET’s Project LIBERTY Field Day. One of them was John Deere, represented by Dean Acheson, Manager, Solutions Development. Dean says that what they’re working on is completely customer based. He says they don’t want to be slowed down during harvest and they want to keep up a high level of productivity.

The prototype equipment they had on display was a one pass, two stream cob collection system. On the back of their combine they have a new prototype piece of equipment that allows the grain to follow a normal path and the cobs then flow out of an attachment on the back of the combine. He says the equipment allows you some flexibility in how you choose or handle what is being harvested. A wagon is pulled by a tractor alongside the combine to collect the cobs. They’re currently not endorsing the towing of equipment behind their combines but this is equipment that is in development for the future.

You can listen to my interview with Dean below and watch a video clip of their equipment in action.

POET Project LIBERTY Field Day Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.4MB)

I know I posted an interview I did with POET CEO Jeff Broin this week but I also recorded his speech to the attendees at their Project LIBERTY Field Day. I thought you would enjoy hearing what he has to say. He starts out pointing to the RFS as a huge opportunity for the ethanol industry and agriculture. He says that legislation is solid and “there’s no risk of that legislation going away.”

He says there is almost a billion tons of ag residue available as biomass to convert to ethanol. That’s the largest source of biomass available for this purpose. He says it’s a little known fact that “over the next 20 years ethanol can almost replace gasoline.” This can be attributed in part to the projected increases in corn yields in the next 10 years.

POET Project LIBERTY Field Day Photo Album