Ask POET Episode 4: Ethanol Efficiency

The question for the fourth episode of Ask POET comes from Scott Miller, who asks: "What is the ethanol industry doing to reduce its carbon footprint and the amount of water it takes to produce ethanol?"

To get the answer, I interviewed Erin Heupel, Director of Environment & Technology for POET. Erin talks about the carbon intensity and net energy gain of ethanol and the water it takes to produce ethanol. Here's episode four of Ask POET:

On the carbon intensity of current ethanol production, see http://bit.ly/etohco2

For ethanol's energy returned on energy invested (EROEI), see http://bit.ly/etoheroei

For POET's Ingreenuity initiative to improve the sustainability of ethanol production, visit http://www.ingreenuity.com

Ask POET is a monthly program on POET TV where we answer the public's questions about ethanol and the role that we, as the largest producer, play in that industry. If you'd like to ask a question for a future episode, leave a comment below or email your question to askpoet@poet.com.

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

A new sustainability initiative for POET

Today, POET launched a new initiative to advance the sustainability of ethanol production. The initiative is Ingreenuity, and you can read all about it on our web site.

For years, POET has been improving the efficiency of ethanol production as we have talked about on this blog before. Now, POET will build on that past through Ingreenuity.

The announcement of the new initiative came in a speech from CEO Jeff Broin to the entire POET team. Broin laid out the initiative and announced the first goal of the program: reduce water use from 3 gallons per gallon of ethanol produced to 2.33 gallons.

As part of the initiative, the POET Foundation is supporting the work of Global Health Ministries to provide access to pure water to people in Nigeria. The Executive Director of GHM, Tim Iverson, was present at the launch to talk about the work being supported by the POET Foundation.

Video from the event has been posted on POET TV and can be watched here:

The presentation from the event is here:

Poet Ingreenuity Launch

View more presentations from POET.

You can track updates from Ingreenuity on Twitter.

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.

Workshop on Ethanol Technology & Research at POET today

As was noted in the previous post, POET is hosting the first day of the BIOFUELS JOURNAL 2nd Annual Commercial Ethanol Technology and Research Workshop at our headquarters in Sioux Falls. Attendees have started registering as you can see in this photo of POET's Chief Science Officer Steve Lewis.

We will be posting photos in the Biofuels Journal Conference set on Flickr as well as updates here and on Twitter. Feel free to follow along and leave comments or questions below.

Biofuels Journal Workshop at POET this week

POET will be a busy place this week.

At our corporate headquarters in Sioux Falls, we’ll host a great lineup of ethanol researchers, experts and industry leaders for Day One of the BIOFUELS JOURNAL 2nd Annual Commercial Ethanol Technology and Research Workshop Wednesday and Thursday.

The focus of the workshop is to outline ways to make ethanol production more efficient and profitable. Technology such as displacing natural gas for energy savings, fractionation, and adding new co-products will all be covered. Industry progress in commercializing cellulosic ethanol will also be highlighted.

Wednesday's session will take place at POET. The Thursday session will be at the Best Western Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center in Sioux Falls.

Keynote speakers for the event are Jeff Broin, CEO of POET, and Brian Jennings, executive vice president of the American Coalition for Ethanol. For a full list of speakers and topics, see the agenda.