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.

DTN Webinar

Join me for a webinar next Thursday, March 25 at DTN to learn more about harvesting corn cobs and high-cut material for cellulosic ethanol. I’ll be talking with DTN Agronomist Dan Davidson, Production Editor Greg Horstmeier and some ag equipment representatives during the one-hour program.

POET Biomass is preparing to secure contracts with farmers for the first commercial harvest for Project LIBERTY in Emmetsburg, Iowa. This fall we will have about 100 farmers harvesting between 75,000 to 100,000 tons of feedstock, and that number will increase in future years.

The webinar will start at 10 a.m. Central time. It should be pretty informal and informative. Go here to register for the event.

Project LIBERTY Presentations

I'm often asked to speak about Project LIBERTY and the progress we have made so far. The past couple of weeks, I spoke with farmers and business leaders at a couple Iowa events.

On Tuesday, February 16th, I was in Spencer at the 26th Annual Northwest Iowa Ag Outlook Conference & Trade Show. I spoke about the project time line, cellulosic ethanol technologies, farmer incentives for harvesting cobs, and the benefits of the project. It was great to learn that some of the 125 people that attended my session had also been to LIBERTY Field Day in Emmetsburg last November. Based on the many questions, there is a lot of interest in LIBERTY and this new revenue opportunity through cob harvesting. To find out more about cob harvesting, visit the POET Biomass website.

The following Tuesday, February 23rd, I spoke at the Alternative Energy Conference in Sheldon at the Northwest Iowa Community College. The unpredictable weather kept some from attending the conference. About 70 people made it through the storm to hear a variety of people talk about alternative energy. I followed Kelly Manning of Growth Energy, so the stage was set well for me to address the national impacts of Project LIBERTY. Here's my presentation:

Project LIBERTY update (Feb. 2010)

View more presentations from POET.

These events were great forums to continue to advance the discussions on POET's role in the nation's alternative energy campaign - reducing greenhouse gases, reducing dependence on foreign oil, and creating jobs in rural America. I look forward to seeing many of you at future events.

Biomass harvesting equipment slide show

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:

Biomass harvesting equipment slide show

View more presentations from POET.

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.

POET Cellulosic ethanol project update

This past week, POET hosted part of the first day of the BIOFUELS JOURNAL 2nd Annual Commercial Ethanol Technology and Research Workshop at our headquarters in Sioux Falls. On the second day, Dr. Mark Stowers, Vice President of Science & Technology for POET, gave the conference an update on Project LIBERTY. Here is his presentation:

POET Cellulosic Ethanol Project Update

View more presentations from Nathan Schock.

Biofuel feedstocks of the future

Last week, I visited the Region 7 office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to participate in a panel discussion about the feedstocks that will be used for biofuel production in the future. The panel discussion was part of the Ag Week conference put on by the EPA Region 7 Ag Team. I was joined on the panel by Dr. Emily Heaton from Iowa State University, Alan Weber from the National Biodiesel Board and Greg Karr of the Midwest Research Institute.

POET was invited to talk about our progress toward producing cellulosic ethanol from corn cobs. Here's the presentation I gave. After it loads (which may take a while) just click on it to advance the slides: