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.

One Step After Another

The creation of POET's cellulosic ethanol process has been a series of steps forward. Some days we take small steps, some days we take big steps, and some days it feels like we are running in place.

But there is no doubt we are moving forward when I think on how far the pilot plant operation has come in a relatively short time. The improvements we have made in the cellulosic ethanol pilot plant since its original startup in 2008 have really helped make the cellulosic ethanol process efficient.

 

So everyday in the pilot plant is another step forward as we move closer to Project LIBERTY. Each day we are putting biomass in and cellulosic ethanol comes out.

As the general manager of POET Research Center I have had the opportunity to see this technology grow from beakers on the lab bench to a significant pilot plant operation. I still find every day very exciting even as the process is becoming more routine. There are alway opportunties but Project LIBERTY feels just around the corner.

Work on biomass logistics at the POET Research Center

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?

Harvesting Biomass Deep in the Heart of Texas

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 new POET cellulosic ethanol video: Defining Liberty

At tomorrow's biomass kickoff in Emmetsburg, Iowa, we will unveil a new video about POET's cellulosic ethanol project. But we like our blog readers so much that we decided to show it to you first. Besides, there will be plenty of other stuff to see tomorrow. Like the Governor of Iowa.

Named "Defining Liberty," the video is a good history of where we've come from on our quest to commercialize cellulosic ethanol. I hope you enjoy it:

You can find more videos like this in the Cellulosic Ethanol by POET playlist on POET TV. Tomorrow, we'll be communicating details from this blog and tweeting from @ethanolbyPOET. You might also see some videos on POET TV.

Finding beauty in a cow’s stomach

I recently had spare time at our Scotland, S.D. plant and found some POET Research folks working on pre-treatment tests for cellulosic ethanol.

Lab Technician Shannon Urban (pictured, right) told me that the feedstock (ground up cobs), acid, water, heat and time are important ingredients in the process. But there’s a virtual chasm between having an ingredient list and having a recipe.

Pre-treatment is easy to do, hard to do right, Urban said.

“It’s a relatively simple process, but it’s just the small changes and tweaks at every step,” he said.

Nature provides the best model, he said. Every day, animals eating grass and leaves do exactly what we’re doing with corn cobs and high-cut material: break down the cellulose to tap the energy inside.

“We’re basically a cow’s stomach,” Urban said. “In a lot of ways, that’s what we’re trying to emulate here, a cow’s stomach.”

All those pipes, gauges, levers, tanks, bells and whistles, just to recreate what the grazing cattle I passed on the highway do every day. Following nature’s path: That’s part of the beauty we see in what we do and why we call ourselves “POET.”

OK, maybe a cow’s digestive system isn’t exactly “beautiful” in the traditional sense. Our CEO’s recent words for Arbor Day invoke a more traditionally “beautiful” image of our work as ethanol producers.

“Among the many benefits of trees is their ability to absorb sunlight into energy for the world, which is the inspiration and model for what we do. We see poetry in nature and poetry in our mission each day at POET. Arbor Day is the perfect time to celebrate that.”

We follow where Mother Nature has trod in both our grain-based and cellulosic processes. It’s a lofty standard, and occasionally we step in a cow pie along the way. But we’ve become very good at making those “small changes and tweaks” that allow us to keep moving forward on that road.

Technorati Tags: cellulosic ethanol,ethanol,POET,nature,Project LIBERTY

Emmetsburg Farmer Forum

POET Project LIBERTY continues to move forward, and the 2010 Emmetsburg-area cob harvest is a key! Preparation for the harvest was the subject of conversation at the Wild Rose Casino on April 13th. Over 175 farmers and residents of the Emmetsburg area gathered with representatives from POET, equipment manufactures, and the Department of Energy to discuss this first large-scale commercial biomass harvest.

Some of the key topics of the evening's discussion were:

• Methods and equipment for harvesting cobs and high-cut material, the feedstock for Project LIBERTY
• Agreements and incentives for collecting, harvesting, storing, and transporting biomass
• Best practices for biomass storage
• Best practices for sustainably harvesting biomass with minimal soil impacts

Many of the participants stayed after the presentations to visit with us and the other industry representatives. POET Biomass team members were on hand and answered questions about the process for signing contracts to harvest and deliver the biomass for LIBERTY. As of today, Emmetsburg-area farmers have contracted to deliver 25,000 bone dry tons (bdt) for the 2010 harvest season! This is 1/3rd of the way toward the 2010 goal of 75,000 bdt.

Visit the POET Biomass website for more information.

Answering public questions about corn cobs, POET's cellulosic ethanol costs

POET’s announcement last week that we’ve lowered the cost of producing cellulosic ethanol from $4.13 down to $2.35 got noticed by media outlets and blogs across the country.

Coverage from national mainstream media outlets included the Washington Post, the Associated Press, Clean Skies TV, and many more. Some notable blogs in the energy and alternative energy sphere also addressed the issue, including R-Squared Energy Blog, Green Car Congress, Salon.com, Climate Progress and Daily Tech.

The blogs were especially interesting because we could gain some insight into the public’s thoughts about what POET is doing thanks to the blog posts and comments from readers. A few issues came up repeatedly, and I’d like to address them here:

 

Q.    Does the cost include factors such as depreciation, labor, insurance, etc?

A.    Yes. We’ve been making ethanol for more than two decades, so we’ve got a pretty good sense of how to figure the cost of production at an ethanol plant. All commercial factors were included in our final number.

Q.  Does the cost incorporate the benefits of tax credits or other government incentives?

A.  No, the $2.35 figure represents the cost without any financial assistance.

 

Q.  Will removing corn cobs damage the soil?

A.  POET is funding research through Iowa State University to gather additional information on this important issue, but a number of studies have already been done on this subject, and they all indicate that taking corn cobs will not make a significant difference in soil nutrient content.

 

For instance, an April, 2009 study by Canadian researchers published in the Agronomy Journal concluded that “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.”

 

Previous research from Iowa State (before POET was involved) has shown that the corn cob represents 5-7 percent of the nutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) in the stover.  To be clear, that does not include the grain. This is consistent with other research we've seen.

 

There has been enough research done to move forward confidently in this project, however we continue to seek more information so we can help farmers find the best way to manage their land while providing cobs for cellulosic ethanol production.

 

Q.  What are POET’s assumptions for the cost of purchasing cobs, and will farmers bring cobs in for that price?

A.  POET figures the cost of cobs at $55/ton. We figure the average farmer stands to gain a profit of about $20 per acre based on this cost, which includes equipment, labor and other costs. In addition to that, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program will provide farmers up to an additional $45/ton in matching funds for two years to help defray startup costs for farmers entering the biomass market.

We've had a great reaction from farmers in the Emmetsburg, Iowa area, and we're confident that others will have a similar reaction once they learn the details. POET Biomass, a new division at POET, helps farmers tailor their cob harvesting plans to best fit the needs of each particular farm.

POET CEO talks cellulosic ethanol on green TV shows

Jeff Broin, the Chief Executive Officer of POET, was in Washington, DC yesterday to give a progress update on cellulosic ethanol after one year of operating a pilot facility. You can read the news coverage on our web site.

Also while in Washington, Mr. Broin interviewed with two online TV stations that cover energy and the environment. You can watch his interview with E&E TV at this link and the interview with Clean Skies TV below:

Getting closer to commercialization of cellulosic ethanol

Today, on the one-year anniversary of the start-up of our pilot plant, POET announced that we have reduced the cost of producing cellulosic ethanol from $4.13 to $2.35. The goal is to be below $2 by the time Project LIBERTY starts up.

Check out a video of Dr. Mark Stowers, Senior Vice President of Science & Technology for POET, explaining how we've reduced costs:

The story was picked up Green Car Congress, the Washington Post and many more.