POET ranked #4 of “50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy”

Biofuels Digest today released its latest “50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy” list, and POET came out ranked #4.

It’s a ranking determined by voters with experience in bioenergy and subscribers to the publication, so it’s a special honor to be recognized by peers as a “hot” company. POET was unique in its inclusion as the top large-scale ethanol producer working with grain and cellulose.

POET reached some notable milestones over the past year in the areas of cellulosic ethanol, new products and green technology.

1. Cellulosic ethanol advancement (Project LIBERTY):

- Approved for a $105 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy for Project LIBERTY construction

- Completed the first commercial-scale biomass harvest of 56,000 tons for cellulosic ethanol in Emmetsburg, Iowa and commenced the second harvest

- Built a 22-acre biomass stack yard at the Project LIBERTY site with work continuing this fall

2. Developed new products:

- Branded zein product “Inviz™,” which can be used as a gum base or in films, packaging, adhesives, coatings, glazes and more

- Branded corn oil “Voilà!™,” which is being sold to biodiesel producers. Plan to install technology to more POET plants, with a potential of enough corn oil to supply feedstock for 50 million gallons of biodiesel per year.

3. Green technology:

- Installed POET’s Total Water Recovery system to more POET plants, for a total of 18 plants today. The system has reduced overall water use by more than 650 million gallons of water per year over 2009 baseline. The company-wide average water use per gallon of ethanol is now at 2.6

- Installed a waste heat recovery system that saves energy in POET Biorefining – Caro (Mich.).

 

Technorati Tags: POET,ethanol,cellulosic,green,zein,corn oil

POET at Plain Green

Plain Green 2011 is in Sioux Falls tomorrow and POET will be there. We are one of the event sponsors and I will speak on the Renewable Energy in South Dakota panel at 2:30.

If you're planning to attend, be sure to swing by our booth to learn about POET's sustainability efforts. You might even get a small gift.

Freedom Film Tour coming to Sioux Falls

Documentary film-makers Josh and Rebecca Tickell have followed up their Sundance award-winning film “Fuel” with a new documentary that looks at America’s need to break its reliance on oil through the use of alternative solutions including ethanol.

Their new film, “Freedom,” outlines the clear dangers of remaining an oil-based society and steps viewers through current and coming alternatives. One of those alternatives is ethanol, and the pair spent some time in South Dakota interviewing farmers, fuel station owners and POET CEO Jeff Broin, among others.

The Tickells bring their “Freedom Film Tour” to Sioux Falls, SD this Monday for a special viewing at Augustana College. The Freedom Bus (which runs on ethanol and includes 19 solar panels and a mobile learning lab) will be at the school outside the Morrison Commons from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The film will air at 7 p.m. in the Kresge Recital Hall. The directors will be on hand as well.

I’ve seen parts of the film, and it’s pretty moving stuff. If you don’t know much about the potential of renewable fuel, it’s a great introduction. And if you already know, it will still inspire you.

Those who aren’t able to get to Sioux Falls should check out the tour schedule to see when it’s coming your way.

Technorati Tags: ethanol,Freedom,documentary,alternative fuel,oil

Conservation Biomass

At the America's Grasslands Conference in Sioux Falls this week, I was joined by Steve Apfelbaum, head scientist of The Earth Partners, to announce the launch of Conservation Biomass. Working together, our organizations aim to develop a source biomass that comes from restored marginal lands and is used to produce power. The ultimate goal is to make that biomass cost competitive with current power sources while delivering real environmental benefits.

The conservation biomass will initially be delivered to POET Biorefining - Chancellor, a 100 million gallon per year grain ethanol production facility in Chancellor, S.D. That facility is powered by landfill gas from the Sioux Falls landfill and a solid fuel boiler, where the biomass will be burned. Eventually, we intend to use it as a feedstock for cellulosic ethanol.

We made the announcement at the America's Grasslands Conference because we wanted to seek out the expertise of those who are managing grasslands and restoring native prairies. Steve and I spoke during lunch on the first day of the conference and you can watch our speeches here or on POET TV.

For more information on Conservation Biomass, check out our press release and this news story from Ethanol Producer Magazine. Also, be sure to visit the web site of The Earth Partners.

Broin to participate in USDA/EPA Roundtable today

POET Chairman and CEO Jeff Broin will participate in a roundtable discussion hosted by Renewable Energy Group (REG) at their biodiesel plant in Newton Iowa. Joining Broin in the discussion will be Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson as well as representatives from REG and Green Plains Renewable Energy.

Part of the discussion will be POET’s recent announcement on corn oil, some of which will be processed by REG into biodiesel. The potential is more fuel from the same raw material. To read more about the event, see KSFY.com.

The State of Renewable Energy in America

POET CEO Jeff Broin spoke at the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) Phase II of Renewable Energy in America National Policy Forum today. The panel was titled "The State of Renewable Energy in America and included FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff and Ethan Zindler of Bloomberg New Energy Finance. It was moderated by Roger Ballentine, President of Green Strategies, Inc.

Broin talked about the state of ethanol in America. Here is his presentation:

State of American Ethanol

View more presentations from POET.

Zindler talked about the shifting center of gravity on renewable power generation from the U.S. to China. He said that if America wants to retake the lead, they must focus on policies that drive demand rather than supply. "Supply-side policies can only have limited impact in an oversupplied market," Zindler said. He mentioned that a Renewable Electricity Standard could accomplish for renewable power what the Renewable Fuel Standard has done for biofuels.

Wellinghoff talked about the need for partnership between Renewable Energy and natural gas as well as the need to remove barriers to distributed generation.

To watch the forum live, click here.

Free Webcast of ACORE Phase II, POET CEO panel discussion

POET’s CEO Jeff Broin is taking part in a panel discussion tomorrow morning titled "The State of Renewable Energy in America" during ACORE Phase II in Washington, D.C.

Broin will join Ethan Zindler with Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the panel at 9:30 a.m. EST.

It turns out the great people at ACORE (The American Council On Renewable Energy) are providing a free webcast of tomorrow’s program. So if you can’t attend, sign up for the webcast here: https://www.cvent.com/EVENTS/Register/IdentityConfirmation.aspx?e=64febf0c-6e1e-4f37-98d1-76c467c2fdc2

And if you’d like to keep up with the conference on twitter, follow @ACOREPhaseII or the hashtag #phaseii2010.

 

Technorati Tags: ACORE Phase II,POET,ethanol,energy,conference

Storm-felled trees to power POET ethanol plant

Last weekend saw a storm with damaging wind gusts sweep through the area and down lots of trees in Harrisburg, S.D. Those trees are now being cleaned up by the county but it won’t cost them a dime.

That’s because the trees will be burned in a solid waste fuel boiler to provide power for POET Biorefining – Chancellor. As Lincoln County Emergency Manager Harold Timmerman said to KELO TV: “It's eco-friendly all around. We get rid of the branches through this grinder, and they're able to be used in an effective way.” Watch his interview and the full story here:

Did he say varmints? That’s one benefit of bioenergy production that I had previously thought of. Anyway, if you’re in the area and would like to get rid of some wood waste, simply take it to Mueller Pallets. They’ll grind it up and bring it to our facility. You can find them through their web site.

POET VP: new data “well received” by Low Carbon Fuel Standard workgroup

New data regarding ethanol’s alleged impact on the environment was “very well received” by members of the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) expert workgroup today, POET Senior Vice President of Science and Technology Mark Stowers said.

Stowers (pictured here) represents the ethanol industry on the group, which is meeting now in Sacramento, Calif.

Earlier today, they heard from Purdue economist Wally Tyner. He updated a model used to estimate Indirect Land Use Change (the much debated theory -- summarized here -- that when corn in the U.S. is used for ethanol, it sets of a chain reaction that, eventually, leads to deforestation in places like the the Amazon).

The updated research adds a few new wrinkles to the model. Rather than ethanol being worse than gasoline, the new data shows that ethanol reduces carbon emissions by at least 10 percent. Reasons for that include:

- It recognizes that a significant amount of the corn is returned to the livestock industry through Dried Distillers’ Grains (DDGS). In other words, one bushel of corn used for ethanol is not one bushel of animal feed lost.

- New cropland is not necessarily poor cropland. Previous estimates assumed new land would be far less productive.

I caught Stowers by phone during a break this afternoon. He said this new data was very important to the debate.

“It starts to show that with more careful scrutiny and as researchers become more familiar with the ethanol industry and agriculture, the numbers are getting more realistic,” he said.

Nonetheless, Stowers said, the model is still not appropriate for use in policy.

“This model is giving us a better indication of what’s going on, but it’s still not complete,” he said. “It’s progress, but it’s not the end.”

Stowers said CARB mentioned the new data in a communication today to the workgroup.

“They made a statement to carefully consider Tyner’s work and make certain we have a recommendation on what to do or how to use the data,” he said.

POET VP: California workgroup represents diverse opinions, common goals

Scientists remain divided about ethanol’s alleged effects on land use, but POET Senior Vice President of Science & Technology Mark Stowers says he and 29 other members of a new California workgroup share a common goal: “to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.”

In a video interview available today on POET TV, Stowers talks about the expert workgroup formed by the California Air Resources Board, charged with “refining and improving the land use and indirect effect analysis of transportation fuels.” That includes studying Indirect Land Use Change theory, which presumes that a farmer’s decision in Iowa to sell corn to an ethanol plant prompts (via six degrees of separation) another farmer in South America to tear down rainforest to plant soybeans.

The group first met on Feb. 26 in Sacramento to begin work reviewing the models and measurements for land use emissions, land use change, greenhouse gas emissions, and more.

Stowers said their work won’t be dedicated to ethanol alone. The group will seek to find consistent models so the effects of many fuels can be better compared.

“That’s one of the important outcomes of this group, to actually look at the indirect effects of all fuels, look at the models and science behind them, and make sure that we have good science driving policy and not policy driving some economic opportunity that’s outside the scope of the group.”

It will be a challenge, Stowers said, given the wide range of opinions on issues, Indirect Land Use Change theory in particular.

“We have 30 scientists representing very diverse backgrounds, and we can’t agree on this as a science-based policy driver,” he said.

The next meeting is April 8. The workgroup will report to the board in December.

Visit POET TV and check back here for more updates as the group continues its work throughout the year.

Technorati Tags: ethanol,POET,California Air Resources Board,CARB,Indirect Land Use Change,ILUC,workgroup