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.

Ask POET Episode 7: What's the best source of Biomass?

In the seventh episode of Ask POET, we received the following question from Carla:

Which plant residues are best for biofuel usage? I have read corn stover and straw. Do you have a list with best in order and a demographic of where they are grown in the US? Secondly, which agricultural crops would be best for biofuel usage? Again, where in the US are they grown and which ones, in order of priority usage?

That's a lot to answer in one interview, but if anyone can do it, it's Adam Wirt. Adam is Regional Biomass Coordinator at POET and he spoke with Ask POET host Nathan Schock. Here's episode 7:

To learn more about our work, visit our web pages on POET Biomass and cellulosic ethanol. If you want to follow Adam's work, he regularly blogs on our Project LIBERTY Blog.

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.

Can the World's Energy Infrastructure be Repurposed?

Through efficiency and flexibility, significant portions of the current infrastructure can be repurposed for greener energy sources. That was the tentative consensus of a panel discussion earlier this week at the Milken Institute Global Conference.

The question put to the panel, titled Repurposing Energy Infrastructure, by Milken Institute Senior Fellow Joel Kurtzman was this:

Over the last 120 years, the world has invested something on the order of $100 trillion in the current energy infrastructure. Is there a way that we can move toward more desirable energy sources and a more secure energy system through repurposing some of this tremendous infrastructure rather than abandoning it?

POET Chairman and CEO Jeff Broin pointed out that we've been repurposing gasoline infrastructure for ethanol in the U.S. for a couple of decades so that today, ethanol makes up ten percent of the U.S. gasoline supply. Moving forward, Broin said it will be important for the infrastructure to remain flexible because gasoline will be around for a long time. That can best be accomplished through flex pumps and flex fuel vehicles that would allow ethanol to gradually replace more gasoline with only moderate changes to the current infrastructure.

The perspectives of "drop-in fuels" and electric vehicles were also represented on the panel. Dr. Frances Arnold, a co-founder of Gevo, talked about the expected advantages of drop-in fuels like butanol if they can reach commercial scale. Steven (Mac) Heller, executive chairman of electric car and battery company CODA Automotive, said that the existing electrical infrastructure is fuel flexible and largely domestic, but that the big challenge will be getting large numbers of electric vehicles on the road.

Also participating was Karen Alderman Harbert, President and CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Harbert, who referred to herself as the "token policy wonk," said that the days of big energy subsidies are coming to an end because of the government's budget woes. One concept the U.S. Chamber is supporting is a Clean Energy Development Administration (CEDA) that would help develop clean energy technologies.

Kurtzman asked provactively whether or not the government should even have an energy policy. The panel generally agreed that government must play a role in speeding up the adoption of promising technologies and providing a stable climate for investors and developers. Broin said that stable policy and incentives for infrastructure were important areas where government could contribute.

There are certainly challenges to repurposing energy infrastructure, but the panel was largely optimistic about achieving some degree of success. As Dr. Arnold said: "The answer to the question had better be yes because $100 trillion is hard to find these days."

It was a lively discussion. To watch a video of the panel, go to the Milken web site.

Ask POET Episode 6: Questions from Investors

In the sixth episode of Ask POET, we collected a few of the most common questions that current and prospective investors ask about POET and got the answers from Larry Ward, Senior Vice President of Project Development. Here's episode 6:

Ward referenced the web site poet.com several times. Also, be sure to check out the investors page on our web site for more information.

To learn more about Ward, check out his profile in Vital Magazine.

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 CEO Jeff Broin accepts Paul Dana Award

Last week, I was with POET CEO Jeff Broin when he accepted the Paul Dana Award for Excellence in Bioenergy from the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA). Read the ISDA press release and watch Jeff's acceptance speech:

The Greater Indiana Clean Cities Coalition hosted the meeting at the Indiana Governor's residence and provided the video and this photo:

(l to r: Greg Dana, Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director Joseph Kelsay, Jeff Broin, Tonya and Connor Dana).

Watch Jeff Broin's speech at Renewable Energy Conference

Jeff Broin, the CEO of POET, spoke at the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) Phase II of Renewable Energy in America National Policy Forum last week. He was on a panel with Ethan Zindler of Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff.

If you would like to watch the panel discussion, ACORE posted it to USTREAM (Broin starts at 1:27.45). You can also watch it here:

To view Jeff's presentation, see my last post. To watch the other speeches, click here.

The Straight Scoop with Marcus Ludtke 9/8/2010

In this week's episode I discuss the ongoing market reaction to Informa's revised "final" US corn yield estimate of 158.5 BPA, as well as, what we can expect to see from the USDA in Friday's September Crop report.

The information contained herein is gathered from sources we believe to be reliable, but cannot be relied upon as such. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. Trading in commodity futures or options involves substantial risk of loss. Past results are not indicative of future results.

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.

Low Carbon Fuel Standard workgroup sorting through data for a true accounting of fuels

In California, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard expert workgroup has been meeting since February, examining the data and assumptions behind the state law regulating carbon intensity of different fuels. This group will make recommendations to the state Air Resources Board by the end of the year.

Dr. Mark Stowers, POET Senior Vice President of Science and Technology, is the lone ethanol representative on the group of scientists and academics, and he took a few minutes this week to provide an update to what the group has been dealing with lately.

The Straight Scoop with Marcus Ludtke 8/25/2010

In this week's episode I discuss the ongoing debate surrounding this year's national corn yield. In doing so I map out some potential adjustments to Iowa and Illinois's corn yields in particular in an attempt to quantify the impact on future national corn yield estimates in proceeding crop reports.

The information contained in this video is gathered from sources we believe to be reliable, but cannot be guaranteed and should not be relied upon as such. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. Trading in commodity futures or options involves substantial risk of loss. Past results are not indicative of future results.