Progress on cellulosic ethanol

At the 2009 Fuel Ethanol Workshop today, POET Chief Executive Officer Jeff Broin gave an update on the company's progress toward commercializing cellulosic ethanol.

The announcement had two main parts:

1. An anaerobic digester has been installed at the pilot cellulosic ethanol plant in Scotland allowing POET to use the waste from the corn cob to provide energy to the plant.
2. The creation of POET Biomass, a new business unit that will be charged with procuring feedstock for cellulosic ethanol production and alternative energy generation.

Audio from the press conference is available on Domestic Fuel.

Biofuel feedstocks of the future

Last week, I visited the Region 7 office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to participate in a panel discussion about the feedstocks that will be used for biofuel production in the future. The panel discussion was part of the Ag Week conference put on by the EPA Region 7 Ag Team. I was joined on the panel by Dr. Emily Heaton from Iowa State University, Alan Weber from the National Biodiesel Board and Greg Karr of the Midwest Research Institute.

POET was invited to talk about our progress toward producing cellulosic ethanol from corn cobs. Here's the presentation I gave. After it loads (which may take a while) just click on it to advance the slides:

Cellulosic Ethanol IF There is Corn-Based Ethanol

I am heartened by the strong support among many government and business sectors for cellulosic ethanol.  However, I am often disheartened by those who believe that corn-based ethanol must fade away.  Apparently, President Obama shares my conflict.

In his letter to the Governors' Biofuels Coalition (pdf), the President restated his support, writing that "biofuels are the primary near-term option for insulating consumers against future oil price shocks and for lowering the transportation sector's carbon footprint...using more biofuels today means an immediate reduction in oil imports in addition to an immediate increase in domestic employment."  He also clarified that his Administration is "moving as quickly as possible to commercialize an array of emerging cellulosic technologies so that tomorrow's biofuels will be produced from sustainable biomass feedstocks..."  

The President understands that the corn-based ethanol industry is the industry that will make cellulosic ethanol a reality.  Calling the ethanol industry "under appreciated," he said it is moving toward the utilization of a wide variety of non-grain feedstocks for biofuels.  He wrote, "the transition to cellulosic technologies will be successful only if the first-generation biofuels industry remains viable... and if we remove long-standing artificial barriers to market expansion necessary for large volumes of advanced renewable fuels to find a place in America's transportation fuels system." (emphasis added).

POET is proud to follow the Obama Administration's lead to move "as quickly as possible" to commercialize cellulosic ethanol while ensuring a strong corn-based ethanol industry. We will continue to create new jobs, improve the environment, and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

More research reaffirms the use of crop residue for cellulosic ethanol

A group of Canadian researchers published a paper in the Agronomy Journal seeking to quantify the amount of crop residue that can be used for ethanol production without adversely impacting soil quality. They conducted two studies:

1. The first evaluated three harvesting systems and their impact on straw removal with baling
2. The second measured straw removal after 50 yr on soil quality and wheat production using a fallow-spring wheat-spring wheat rotation (F-W-W) with three different treatments imposed

Their conclusion: Measurements of soil organic carbon and nitrogen showed no differences after 50 yr of straw removal, and spring wheat grain yields and grain protein concentration were also not affected based on the second study. The potential therefore exists to use crop residues for ethanol production or other industrial purposes without adversely affecting the long-term productivity of medium- to heavy-textured soils providing that 40% of the total above ground residues other than grain are removed and the frequency of removal is no more than 2 yr out of three.

These findings are similar to other studies we've seen, some of which have shown that as much as 50 percent of the stover can be removed without negatively impacting soil quality. As mentioned in the prior post, POET is working with Iowa State University to study the impact to the soil of using corn cobs for ethanol production and thus far research has shown that it has little to no impact. This is something we will continue to monitor closely and the Agronomy Journal provided an important contribution.