RETECH

Today at 3:00 EST, POET CEO Jeff Broin will be speaking during the Opening Session as part of a CEO Panel at the Renewable Energy Technology Conference and Exhibition (RETECH) in Washington, DC. Carol Browner, Assistant to the President on Energy and Climate Change will also be presenting. I will post his speech later today.

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Jeff Broin at DC Auto Show

Along with Gen. Wesley Clark and Ricardo President Kent Niederhofer, POET CEO Jeff Broin made comments this morning at the Washington Auto Show. You can listen to part of it here.

  
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POET VP Testifies to EPA on Renewable Fuel Rulemaking

Dr. Mark Stowers, Vice President of Science and Technology for POET, testified today at an EPA hearing on their Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the Renewable Fuel Standard (POET statement here).

Dr. Stowers' testimony took issue with three pieces of the proposed rule:

1. EPA has not provided sufficient time and information for meaningful review and comment regarding the proposed rule.
2. EPA's proposed rule imposes extensive compliance mechanisms that will be costly and difficult to implement on the expedited schedule proposed by EPA.
3. EPA's proposed scheme for assessment and comparison of lifecycle greenhouse gas emission performance is flawed and has no basis in law or science.

On the third point, Dr. Stowers is primarily referring to indirect land use change, which was summarized in a recent post on this blog. To read his entire testimony click here.

President-Elect Obama and Ethanol

As the largest producer of ethanol in the world, POET gets a lot of inquiries about what we expect from an Obama administration. Rather than venture our own guess, we'd like to let the words of his campaign speak for itself.

On October 27, just a few days before the election, Heather Zichal, the Obama National Campaign Policy Director for Energy, Environment and Agriculture, spoke at the grand opening ceremony of POET Biorefining - Marion, our newest of 26 ethanol production facilities. you can watch her speech here in its entirety:

In her speech, she reads a statement from then candidate Obama regarding the opening of the plant in Marion, Ohio and his position on ethanol. The statement reads:

I'm proud to support biofuels, which can reduce our dependence on foreign oil, lower the price of gasoline, and help grow our economy. This plant is both an investment in the Marion Community and a timely reminder of the incredible economic potential of alternative fuels.

Opening a new ethanol plant in Ohio

POET opened its 25th ethanol plant yesterday in Fostoria, Ohio. Approximately 2,500 people attended the event and heard speeches from local dignitaries and elected officials, Ryan Hunter-Reay and POET CEO Jeff Broin. You can find the speeches on POET TV or watch them here:

For photos from the event, click here. For media coverage, visit our news page.

The POET story told to the UN

As I said in a previous post, POET CEO Jeff Broin is at the United Nations for a private sector forum on their Millennium Development Goals. Broin was one of two issue presenters at a roundtable discussion on energy and biofuels. He told other CEOs and UN agency heads the story of POET and why it is applicable to the millennium development goals.

You can download a PDF of his remarks here or read them on the continuation of this post.

Speaking at the North Manchester ethanol plant opening

As mentioned in a previous post, POET held a grand opening ceremony on September 11 for POET Biorefining - North Manchester, the company's 24th ethanol production facility. POET CEO Jeff Broin was joined at the event by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and a representative of U.S. Senator Richard Lugar.

Pictures from the event are posted on Flickr. The speeches can be viewed on POET TV or here:

The plant starts grinding corn for ethanol production tomorrow (September 15) and has an annual production capacity of 65 million gallons of ethanol and 178,000 tons of DDGS for animal feed per year.

POET provides expert testimony on cellulosic ethanol

Dr. Mark Stowers, Vice President of Research & Development for POET, was on Capitol Hill earlier this week to provide expert testimony to the House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality. Dr. Stowers briefed the committee on our cellulosic plans at a hearing titled The Renewable Fuels Standard: Issues, Implementation, and Opportunities.

Posted here is Dr. Stowers' testimony from POET TV. You can also watch the entire committee hearing or download the written version of Dr. Stowers' testimony. For more information on our cellulosic ethanol project, visit projectliberty.com.

Photos from BIO

As I mentioned in the previous post, POET is in Chicago for the 2008 World Conference on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing. Yesterday, POET CEO Jeff Broin spoke to a gathering of the Governor's Ethanol Coalition and the plenary lunch session of the conference (pictured here).

More pictures from the conference are available on our Flickr page. Today, Mark Stowers, VP of R&D for POET, is speaking on a panel about our cellulosic ethanol project.

Flag flown over US Capitol in recognition of POET ethanol plant

U.S. Senator Richard Lugar was unable to attend the grand opening of POET Biorefining - Alexandria last week, but he sent his well-wishes with his executive director Gail Lowry. He also sent something else: a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol  Building in recognition of the new ethanol plant. Here's a picture of Gail just before she handed the flag to POET CEO Jeff Broin:

Gail also read a letter from Senator Lugar talking about the economic and national security benefits of ethanol in general and this plant in particular. You can read the entire letter by clicking here (pdf).