POET featured in Accenture study on disruptive technologies in transport fuels

The global management consulting firm Accenture (NYSE: ACN) released a 300 page study titled: Betting on Science: Disruptive Technologies in Transport Fuels. The study identifies "the technologies that [Accenture] predicts are most likely to transform the demand and supply of transport fuels and cut emissions within the next five years."

One of the case studies included in the report is on POET and looks at the progress made in ethanol production over the past 20 years. That progress includes a 20 percent increase in ethanol yield, an 80 percent reduction in water usage and a 33 percent reduction in energy usage. In summarizing that data, the authors state that "POET may have mastered the art of producing ethanol from corn."

To read the four-page POET case study, click here.

To purchase the study or read a summary, click here.

Getting farmers invested in cellulosic ethanol

One challenge to commercializing cellulosic ethanol that is often overlooked is convincing enough people to grow and/or harvest your feedstock of choice.  POET’s work to clear that hurdle will continue this week. 

POET CEO Jeff Broin this Thursday will be at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s Trade Talk in Kansas City.  He’ll be packing as many interviews as he can into a time slot of 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

To illustrate the challenge in feedstock logistics, POET’s $80 million award from the Department of Energy (which recently got an additional $20 million boost) comes with the requirement that we process 700 tons of biomass (corn cobs, in our case) per day.  That means we’ll need about 400,000 acres of cobs harvested in the area surrounding our Emmetsburg, Iowa plant.

Cob harvesting is going to be a huge opportunity for farmers to get additional income with zero new acres going into production.  We’ve made a lot of progress in attracting farmer interest in the Emmetsburg area through events such as Project LIBERTY Field Day last week.  But we also realize those efforts must be replicated across the Corn Belt in order to expand the technology to other POET plants as well as other interested ethanol producers.

The more we can get farmers familiar with the coming revolution in agriculture, the easier that process will be.

Farmers watch the latest cob harvesting equipment in action Nov. 3 at Project LIBERTY Field Day in Emmetsburg, Iowa.

Biofuels Journal Presentation from POET CEO Jeff Broin

Jeff Broin, CEO of POET, delivered the keynote address at BIOFUELS JOURNAL's 2nd annual Commercial Ethanol Technology and Research Workshop. In the speech, he focused on the potential for the ethanol industry based upon the projected availability of feedstock over the next 20 years.

You can watch video of the speech here and here. Here is the presentation: