KGLO Ag Expo

POET Biomass does a lot of work in and around Emmetsburg, Iowa, but we’re also taking a longer and broader look at biomass harvesting.

After Project LIBERTY gets rolling, additional plants, both POET and other producers, will look to add the technology to their operations. That’s going to take corn cob harvesting well beyond the boundaries of Palo Alto County, Iowa and across the Midwest.

In an effort to educate farmers about this coming opportunity, Friday I will be speaking at the KGLO Ag Expo in Mason City, Iowa.  The topic is Project LIBERTY and the need for corn cobs as the feedstock to the plant.

Cellulosic ethanol is closer than ever thanks to the ongoing research and development by POET. The pilot plant in Scotland, S.D. has been operating for the past 14 months actively making ethanol out of cobs, perfecting the process for commercial scale in Emmetsburg.

Now it is up to the American corn farmer to supply the feedstock. Emmetsburg will be the first large-scale cob harvest, but farmers everywhere should prepare to think about their crops in a whole new way.

Wall Street Journal covers Project LIBERTY

In the last week of 2009, the Wall Street Journal ran a piece by reporter Ian Berry on the financial benefits that will come to farmers from producing cellulosic ethanol. Here's one paragraph from the piece:

Unlike some of the other corn residue, the cobs are seen as having little if any value to the land and can be removed without depleting the soil. And the cob, unlike the grain, doesn't ignite the "food versus fuel" debate. POET said that it is quickly finding ways to make cellulosic ethanol profitable. Since the pilot project started, it has cut costs almost in half, to $2.35 per gallon from $4.13, by reducing energy usage and enzyme costs, among other expenses.

If you still have your hard copy from December 30 lying around, it's on Page B5.