As we have said in previous posts on this blog, it will take a lot of biomass to feed Project LIBERTY when it's up and running. It will need somewhere in the neighborhood of 300,000 tons to produce 25 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol each and every year.
This year was the first commercial harvest and it saw 85 farmers provide about 56,000 tons of baled corn cobs and light stover. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and this picture of 24,000 tons of biomass should give you a better iead of the volume we're talking about. That's less than half of the total that was collected.
According to a study from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy, there is more than one billion tons of biomass available in the U.S. Just imagine what that pile would look like.
We had to wait a little longer than we wanted to, but the LIBERTY stackyard has now been up and running for nearly 5-weeks. Producers around Emmetsburg were able to get their Eligible Material Owner applications approved around January 24th and start deliveries. To date, we have brought in nearly 23,000 bone-dry tons (BDT) of material. We are averaging around 900 BDT of material into the yard everyday, which will allow us to meet our need production need of 770 BDT per day. Best of all, we hit the 770 BDT mark on the second day of taking bales. This was a huge accomplishment for the team, and they have not stopped since. Our guys in the stackyard have been doing a great job and deserve a much needed pat on the back. Great Job Guys!!!
Through these first weeks of delivery, we have experienced two of the bigger challenges we were waiting for. First was the opportunity to deal with snow in the yard. The team is learning how and where to move snow when it comes. They are attacking the areas where the most work will occur and balancing that with the unloading of trucks. We found that by slowing the inbound trucks, the snow gives the guys extra time to clean up the yeard.
The second was thawing and melting. With the seasonally high temps last week, much of the snow in the area melted causing muddy conditions. As well, the frost has begun coming out of the ground and both loaders and trucks were digging down into the roads and bale rows quite a bit. As we struggled with this, we also heard about the farmers struggling too. It looks like as we turn into spring of the spring of the year, we will be able to get by working in the mornings when the ground is firm, but may need to stop in the afternoons as the ground again turns soft. This is all part of the learning process!
Along with bale deliveries, we have performed our first round of sampling on the storage study bales that are in the stackyard. We will be doing analysis on these samples to determine the dry matter losses and compositional changes in the biomass that are occurring. We will perform more samplings throughout the year to see how these parameters change over time in the bales.
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.
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):
POET Biomass just completed a 10-day visit to the heat of southern Texas. It was a challenge to keep the team fully hydrated as we sweated in the 100+ degree sun during the harvest of ~75 acres of corn. The corn yield was good, but the collection of the biomass was even better.
During the harvest, POET Biomass produced more than 100 bales of biomass from corn cobs, leaves, husks and the very tops of the stalks (like the one pictured here). Several of these bales were sent to the POET Research Center in Scotland, S.D. for further testing and for conversion to cellulosic ethanol in our pilot plant.
POET Biomass worked with Vermeer and a farmer in southern Texas to harvest both corn and biomass. This included the use of a Vermeer 605 Super Cornstalk Special Baler. Not only was this a learning experience for POET Biomass but it also allowed Vermeer to use their equipment in a situation that will closely match the conditions of the Iowa harvest later this fall. The equipment was tweaked to produce the best bale while leaving a minimal number of cobs on the ground.
From this learning experience, POET Biomass will be able to put together best practices for farmers to follow as they begin to harvest this fall. In the summer collection of biomass in the great state of Texas, the term 'no sweat off my back' doesn't apply, the heat of the southern Texas sun ensured there was plenty of it.
To see more photos from the harvest, go to our Flickr page.
The opportunity to view pre-commercial biomass harvesting equipment that will collect feedstock for cellulosic ethanol proved as irresistible to members of the press as it did to farmers in the Emmetsburg area. There was quite a lot of news coverage as you can see from our news page. Here are a few of the online highlights:
Ken Anderson of Brownfield Ag news posted seven audio clips of speeches and interviews with speakers, farmers, POET team members and agricultural equipment manufacturers on their site.
Chuck Zimmerman posted tons of content to his blogs Domestic Fuel and AgWired as well as photos and videos that are worth checking out. Here's one of POET CEO Jeff Broin's speech:
Finally, there was an extremely complementary opinion piece about the event from the nearby Estherville News. Among other things, it said: Corn-based ethanol is in fact the best thing to come down the road for
Iowa farmers, Iowa's economy and the environment for a very long time. Except
for cellulosic ethanol, of course. We agree.
During the Project LIBERTY Field Day, a slide show of the biomass harvesting equipment played on four big screens under the tent. There were a total of 16 agricultural equipment manufacturers at the event and you can view many of them on that slide show:
The equipment manufacturers and partners represented were AGCO, CASE IH, CLAAS, Demco, Fantini, Iowa State University, Idaho National Lab, John Deere, Ken's Truck & Trailer, Milstak, Redekop, Stinger, SmithCo, Unverferth, Vermeer and Wildcat. For photos of the equipment in action, be sure to check out our photo gallery.
I am asked about corn cobs nearly every day. Can farmers harvest corn cobs efficiently and profitably? Will there be various cob harvest equipment options for various farm operations? Will there be incentives for the early cob farmers?
Come to POET Project LIBERTY Field Day to see and hear that the answer to all three of these questions is yes. The event will be at POET Biorefining - Emmetsburg on November 3rd. Leading agriculture equipment manufacturers will demonstrate new commercial and pre-commercial equipment for harvesting corn cobs for cellulosic ethanol. The equipment from last year's field day is pictured here. You can view videos on POET TV.
The main events will be two live demonstrations of equipment, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. In between there will be an informational session for area farmers on the opportunities afforded them by harvesting biomass for cellulosic ethanol. POET team members will describe incentives for early adopters. Agricultural equipment company representatives will be on hand. And if that isn't enough, there will also be a free lunch!
Agenda:
9:30 Welcome
10:00 Equipment Demonstration
11:30 Speaking Program
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Equipment Demonstration
3:30 Adjourn
POET Project LIBERTY, right in Emmetsburg, Iowa, is on track to become one of the world's first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants. Project LIBERTY Field Day brings together the main ingredients: farmers, agriculture equipment companies, and POET--working together for U.S. energy independence.
As previously mentioned, POET is hosting the Project LIBERTY Field Day this Thursday at POET Biorefining - Emmetsburg. During the event, area farmers will get a first-hand look at the progress agricultural equipment manufacturers have made on biomass harvesting equipment. A complete schedule of the day's events can be found on our web site.
Meanwhile, Farm Journal posted an event preview with a slideshow of the fields and the equipment that you can view here:
If you're interested in biomass harvesting and cellulosic ethanol, come out to Emmetsburg on Thursday. We'll even feed you lunch.
