What do we do with all those bales?

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.

Conditional Commitment from DOE keeps cellulosic ethanol moving forward

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.

As we've said before (on this blog and elsewhere), the loan guarantee is an important step to commercialization of cellulosic ethanol. I like the way Brooke Coleman of the Advanced Ethanol Council put it: commercial cellulosic ethanol plants cost a couple hundred million dollars and it’s tough to get a car loan in this economy.

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.

EcoTrek interview on Forbes.com

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.

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?

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:

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.

CEO Jeff Broin tells AgriTalk about the emission reductions of Project LIBERTY

Earlier this week at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop and Expo, POET CEO Jeff Broin announced that POET’s Project LIBERTY will reduce emissions by 111% compared to gasoline, according to a third-party lifecycle analysis. That means POET’s cellulosic ethanol will have negative emissions.

Shortly after the announcement, Broin spoke with AgriTalk about the news.

In this clip, they discuss the “synergy” between the grain-based ethanol plant and the cellulosic ethanol plant. A big part of the emissions reduction from our cellulosic ethanol plant is due to the fact that we will take the waste stream from the cellulosic ethanol process and run it through two anaerobic digesters to produce biogas. That gas will produce enough energy to eliminate the need for natural gas (a fossil fuel) at both the cellulosic and grain-based ethanol plants.

Other synergistic relationships exist as well. For instance, we are going to the same farmers who currently sell us corn to secure a steady supply of feedstock (corn cobs and other agriculture residue) for Project LIBERTY. Many of those relationships are already in place. The two plants will also share roads and other types of infrastructure.

Project LIBERTY prompts new business

A new Vermeer implement dealer is opening soon in Emmetsburg, Iowa, to provide biomass harvesting equipment to farmers contracted with Project LIBERTY.

Woodford Equipment will hold its grand opening on July 8, according to Eric Woodford, who owns the business with his wife Mary. They’ve already done a “tremendous amount of business” with area farmers ahead of their official start, he said.

We often hear about “indirect jobs” when someone is pitching a project. When one business is built, other businesses are created or expand. It might be the hiring a new waiter at the local diner, which sees an uptick in lunch business, or it might be the creation of a new office supplier that keeps the business well-stocked.

It’s an easy concept to grasp, but the reality is we don’t usually recognize how the threads between businesses intersect in a community.

That why it’s really exciting to see economic activity so clearly developing around the cellulosic ethanol industry in Emmetsburg.

Eric made this point when we talked recently in Emmetsburg. They will be hiring staff soon for Woodford Equipment.

“The part that I really like about [Project LIBERTY] is how when this gets applied to other ethanol plants, how much it can do for rural economies,” he said. “Like myself, it’s bringing and creating new businesses, new wealth; it’s not displacing any wealth.”

Eric has done custom combining, custom baling and farming for the last 15 years in southern Minnesota. He says farmers have warmed to the idea of harvesting biomass, but it takes time to develop that comfort level.

“Farmers like to watch new things, but they rarely like to be the first to adapt,” he said.

He hopes to be a resource for those farmers venturing into harvesting a new revenue crop.

“I’m excited to share [my skills] with the people of Emmetsburg and the farmers,” he said. “The transition is going to be scary for them because it’s something new … but my business has the skill set where they can easily make the transition, and we’ll be there right beside them every step of the way.”

Check out the video for more on my interview with Eric Woodford, and see some of the equipment they have to offer at his website.

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:

Press coverage of LIBERTY Day cellulosic ethanol harvest demonstration

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.

KTIV-TV out of Sioux City, Iowa posted several news clips to their web site: Farmers sign up to deliver cobs to Emmetsburg, IA project, Cellulosic ethanol plant promises jobs, freedom from foreign oil, and Gen. Wesley Clark: 'We need E15 right now.'

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.