2011 Harvest in the Books

The 2011 harvest has been completed and saw farrmers around Emmetsburg, Iowa collect 61,000 bone-dry tons of corn cobs and high cut material. POET Regional Biomass Coordinator Adam Wirt was in Fort Dodge, Iowa yesterday for the Farm News Ag Show to update local farmers on our progress.

As you can see from this harvest photo taken near Emmetsburg, there is still plenty of cover on the field after the crop residue is baled. The amount of stover in those fields ensures that the harvest of crop residue can be sustainable.

Once BCAP is straightened out, these bales will be delivered to the stack yard in Emmetsburg and many will end up in South Dakota where they will be converted to cellulosic ethanol in our pilot plant or power for POET Biorefining - Chancellor. Another harvest brings us that much closer to our goal of producing cellulosic ethanol at the commercial scale.

POET CEO on Cellulosic Progress

During Trade Talk at the annual convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB), POET Founder & CEO Jeff Broin talked with several farm broadcasters. He's pictured here in one of those many interviews.

One of those interviews was with Jody Heemstra of KWAT Radio in Watertown, S.D. Domestic Fuel got a copy of the seven minute interview and posted it on their blog.

Broin talked about the recently completed corn corn crop residue harvest said that POET has made "tremendous strides" developing commercial cellulosic ethanol. He also talked about how POET will integrate cellulosic ethanol production with its existing corn ethanol plants and the benefits that will bring to both processes.

Going "Beyond the Kernel" at the International Biomass Conference

Scott Weishaar, VP of Commercial Development for POET, was at BBI International’s International Biomass Conference & Expo to talk on the panel: Beyond the Kernel: Stover Strategies for Biofuel Production. Weishaar gave an update on what POET Biomass has learned about the logistics of harvesting, transporting and storing corn cobs, leaves and husks for cellulosic ethanol production.

Here's his presentation:

Beyond the Kernel

View more presentations from POET

Ethanol Producer Magazine covered the event here. Check out our web site for more information on POET's work in cellulosic ethanol.

The cellulosic ethanol tour begins!

I'm back from California where I witnessed the start of EcoTrek's Best of America tour that will travel 10,000 miles on cellulosic ethanol produced by POET. The tour was launched at the Santa Monica Pier, which is the start of historic Route 66.

EcoTrek Executive Director Tom Holm (pictured here on the right with me on the Santa Monica Pier) is a passionate advocate for the environment and renewable fuels. During a reception at Outlaw Offroad Motors, where the truck was customized, Holm had a lot of heads nodding when he extolled the environmental, economic and national security benefits of cellulosic ethanol.

The cellulosic ethanol powering the EcoTrek tour was produced at the POET Research Center in Scotland, S.D. It was made from corn cobs, leaves and husks that are left on the ground after farmers harvest their grain.

You can follow the tour progress at the EcoTrek web site as well as on Twitter and Facebook.

Biomass bales on display at Farm Progress

As he posted here yesterday, POET Director of Biomass Mike Roth is at the 2010 Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa. Here's a photo of the biomass bales that are on display at Conservation Central (booth #817):

Farm Progress Show

POET Biomass is attending the 2010 Farm Progress Show in Boone, IA this week. We are displaying a biomass bale like the one pictured here at Conservation Central (booth #817).
We are looking forward to talking with equipment manufacturers and farmers about the process of collecting, storing and transporting cob biomass from the field to the plant. POET Project LIBERTY is still on track to collect in excess of 50,000 tons of biomass from the 2010 harvest in the fields surrounding Emmetsburg, Iowa.

Maintaining soil quality while removing corn residue

When we first started looking at producing cellulosic ethanol from corn residue (cobs, leaves, husks and some of the stalk), one of the primary concerns we heard was about the impact removal of that material would have on soil quality. The farmers we talk to did not want to harm their soil, upon which their livelihood depends.

So POET embarked on a multi-year study with Iowa State University (ISU) and the USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) on the impact that stover removal has on soil in the Emmetsburg area. We previously discussed study results and will release the finalized study. So far, the research has determined that taking less than 25 percent of the crop residue from a field is consistent with good farm management.

There was an average of 4.26 tons of crop residue per acre, and removal of about 1 ton per acre “will not require any drastic changes in fertilizer management for producers choosing to participate in the program,” according to lead researchers were Stuart Birrell with ISU’s Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and Douglas Karlen with USDA-ARS.

Information was based on the Emmetsburg study as well as 10 site-years of additional data.

Soil nutrient levels naturally vary within a field. The study showed that these variations are greater than levels of nutrients lost from the cob removal methods tested. They also stressed farmers need to understand their land and should not remove more stover than their fields can handle.

The research collaboration will continue next year as POET seeks more information about soil quality, cobs and stover.

At the Biomass kickoff in Emmetsburg Tuesday, Professor Birrell was on hand to discuss data from year two of the study with the farmers who have contracted with POET to deliver biomass. Here's the video from POET TV:

Project LIBERTY will accept biomass bales

At yesterday’s Biomass Kickoff in Emmetsburg, Iowa, POET announced a change in requirements for cellulosic ethanol feedstock, one that has made farmers more comfortable with the process.

Project LIBERTY will accept round or square bales of corn cobs with “light stover,” basically the material that comes out the back of the combine (leaves, husk, a little stalk from the top of the plant), POET's CEO Jeff Broin announced in his speech.

From a process standpoint, we’d prefer corn cobs only. They’re dense and provide a consistent feedstock rather than multiple products mixed together. However, many farmers are more comfortable with baling because they’ve been doing it for years, so we adjusted our requirements to fit that reality. We need a lot of farmers harvesting biomass as soon as possible to keep Project LIBERTY on schedule.

Also, because POET needs to keep the feedstock as consistent as possible, we will not be able to accept loose cobs for Project LIBERTY.

There are some advantages to baling, particularly in storage and transport, and we’re excited that so many people have shown an interest in collecting biomass using this method. Also, the equipment manufacturers have been very flexible, changing their plans to suit this new commodity market.

Despite the change in collection method, POET is still asking for less than 25 percent of the stover on any field.

Is alfalfa a good feedstock for cellulosic ethanol?

Last week, the National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance held a workshop in central Iowa last week to talk about the potential for alfalfa as a cellulosic feedstock for ethanol. Owen Shunkwiler, the General Manager of POET Biorefining - Coon Rapids, participated in a panel of ethanol producers and enzyme manufacturers that included Genencor, ADM and Abengoa.

Several of the presentations from the event have been posted online and Rod Swoboda wrote a short recap for Wallaces Farmer.

POET is focused on corn cobs, leaves and husks as our first feedstock for cellulosic ethanol for reasons we have talked about on multiple occasions. Beyond that, we are looking at the many other sources of biomass that can be collected and processed into cellulosic ethanol. Could alfalfa be one of those sources? Only time will tell.

Alternative Energy Conference

On Tuesday, February 23rd, I'll give a presentation on Project LIBERTY at the Alternative Energy Conference. The event will be in Sheldon, Iowa at the Northwest Iowa Community College, Building A. I'm scheduled to speak at 10:45 am. My presentation will focus on the project time line, cellulosic ethanol technologies, cob harvesting, and the project benefits. Hope to see you there!