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.
If you've been reading this blog, you know that we've collected a lot corn crop residue around Emmetsburg, Iowa over the past couple of years. Some of it has been going to our pilot plant in Scotland, S.D.
However, the pilot plant has a capacity to process one ton per day and last fall we collected 56,000 tons. Do the math and you'll discover that it would take more than 150 years for the pilot plant to process all of that corn crop residue.
That's why much of the residue has been making it's way to our waste-powered ethanol plant in Chancellor, S.D. At POET Biorefining - Chancellor, we have a solid fuel boiler that produces steam for the plant by burning biomass in a 22' x 16' x 65' combustion chamber.
But before it comes to Chancellor, the bales have to be ground up and that's where a new partnership with the Sioux Falls landfill comes into play. It was in the long-term plans for the landfill to purchase a grinder and the revenue from grinding our corn crop residue bales allowed them to speed up the purchase. It was the subject of a story by KELO-TV, the local CBS affiliate:
You can see pictures of the grinder on our Flickr Page or watch video of it in action on POET TV.
This morning, the Department of Energy announced a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee for Project LIBERTY, POET's project to make cellulosic ethanol out of corn crop residue.
The story has generated a lot of coverage, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. There was also a comprehensive update from Ucilia Wang at earth2tech. If you're wondering where the project stands, watch this video interview with Project LIBERTY Director Jim Sturdevant:
For more on the announcement, see releases from POET and the DOE.
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.
Kerry Dolan from Forbes Magazine interviewed EcoTrek executive director Tom Holm about his cross-country tip using cellulosic ethanol made by POET. You can read her blog post or watch the interview:
Tom also interviewed with Joanna Schroeder of Domestic Fuel while he was speaking at the California Ethanol Symposium. You can watch that interview here.
If you want to see the vehicle for yourself, it's in Phoenix today and Denver later in the week. It will be visiting the POET Research Center in Scotland, S.D., the place where the cellulosic ethanol was produced, next week.
Emmetsburg, Iowa and farmers in the surrounding area got the nod from Biofuels Digest for “Community of the Year” in the magazine’s annual awards.
According to the publication, the town received the honor “for the transformation of the small local community’s economy through corn and cellulosic ethanol.”
In response to this award, Emmetsburg City Administrator John Bird said the town was very excited for the distinction and that they value their relationship with POET and Project LIBERTY.
I know everyone at POET echoes that opinion.
There’s exciting work going on around Project LIBERTY, and it’s rewarding to be doing that work in a community that shares that excitement. As Project LIBERTY Director Jim Sturdevant said: “The entire community has embraced its role as a leader in the nation’s clean energy future.”
Starting a market for biomass is one of the most challenging aspects of Project LIBERTY, and the farmers and community members have remained engaged, patient and steadfast.
As POET moves forward to commercial cellulosic ethanol production, it’s comforting to know we’re going step-by-step with real partners.
Biofuels Digest issued their annual list of the 50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy. For the second year in a a row, POET made the top five (#3 this year) partly because of our leading position in developing cellulosic ethanol.
The Digest noted that POET was one of 29 companies pursuing microbial fermentation and the top cellulosic ethanol developer. You can read our release here.
As stories in DTN and the High Plains Journal noted today, the science is only half of the challenge of cellulosic ethanol production. The other (equally challenging) half, is planting, harvesting, transporting, storing and preparing all that cellulose for ethanol production.
A few years ago, I attended a panel on cellulosic ethanol at an industry conference where one developer was asked how he was going to secure all of the biomass needed to produce the gallons his company predicted. He responded that they would simply pay farmers enough and the farmers would deliver.
The industry has come a long way since then. Regular readers of this blog should be aware that POET has been spending a lot of time on this half of the cellulosic ethanol equation. If you're new to the blog, just check out all of the posts on harvesting.
As an example of some of the ongoing work, take a look a this short video I shot at the POET Research Center last week. In the video, process development engineer Steve Bly is using an all terrain forklift to put a biomass bale into a shredder that will prepare it for the ethanol production process:
To produce cellulosic ethanol on a commercial scale, this would only have to happen about 1,000 times per day. Obviously, you won't be lifting them in one at a time, but how's that for a challenge?
Over the weekend, Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack weighed in on the issue and agreed, calling the Register article "inaccurate." Here's the opening paragraph of his letter:
A Nov. 14 article, "Report Questions Cellulosic Ethanol Merits," suggested USDA doubts the future of biofuels made from crop residues and other cellulosic materials. That is inaccurate. The future of biofuel from cellulosic materials is bright. And its promise for creating economic opportunity in rural America is profound (emphasis added).
Secretary Vilsack went on to reiterate his department's support for cellulosic ethanol, saying "In the Midwest, corn and corn stover will remain the primary energy crop." We agree and welcome the U.S. Department of Agriculture's continued support for cellulosic ethanol.
The article was titled "Report questions cellulosic ethanol merits" and the headline certainly fits the article, but not the report. Nothing in the full report questions the merits of cellulosic ethanol, but if you read the article you're left with the impression it calls for shifting research and funding from cellulosic ethanol to algae.
The report lists algae as one of two additional options for consideration and contains exactly two mentions of the word "algae." Here is the relevant section:
Second, there are a number of new feedstocks, such as algae and other oil seed crops, that seem to hold significant potential. Although significant funding has positioned algae as a biofuel feedstock, additional efforts are needed.
That's it. Not a single mention of shifting dollars from cellulosic ethanol to algae. The Des Moines Register article paints cellulosic ethanol in the worst possible light and pits it against algae when the actual report clearly does neither. Here are the five recommendations of the report:
USDA/REE should validate the development of a cellulosic feedstock system and determine which feedstocks indicate significant sustainable potential in various regions of the US.
USDA/REE should support cross-functional educational and outreach programs in agriculture, chemistry and engineering disciplines to support a new workforce that has a strong foundation in chemurgy skills.
USDA/REE should increase resources to support research and cross-functional educational programs to address challenges for utilization of agricultural derived bioproducts and biomass.
USDA/REE should evaluate bio-power from biomass in terms of efficiencies, regionalization, liquid fuels and electricity. REE also should effectively communicate its vision and the potential scope and research needs for biomass crops.
USDA/REE should continue to support the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics Report of which ERS and NASS are an integral part and also should broaden the scope of its data analysis to include the Forest Service and NRCS.
(Emphasis added). If I'm reading it correctly, that actually seems advocate investing MORE money in cellulosic ethanol research. I encourage you to read the full report yourself. I'll do some more digging and have more to say on this soon.
