The biggest biofuel producer in the US will begin research this week on harvesting techniques needed to produce cellulosic ethanol.
POET is working to commercialize a cellulosic ethanol production process at a pilot plant in Scotland, South Dakota, under its Project LIBERTY program.
As part of its third year of harvesting in Texas, where the harvest begins earlier in the year than other parts of the country, POET will monitor the biomass going through the combine during grain harvest.
Researchers will compare the material with baled corn cobs, and assess composition and moisture content, aiming to maximize the amount of cobs in each bale.
The work is being carried out in corn fields near Navasota, as POET works toward large-scale production of its cellulosic ethanol at a commercial facility in Emmetsbury Iowa, expected to begin production in early 2012.
Knowledge
“We’ve learned a lot about harvesting biomass over the last few years in Texas, South Dakota and Iowa,” POET Biomass Director Mike Roth said.
“We will continue to add to our knowledge of the issue and share that information with farmers as they begin the commercial harvest for Project LIBERTY.”
Cellulosic ethanol makes use of non-food crops or waste biomass material to produce the biofuel, avoiding significant impacts on global food prices and saving more greenhouse gas emissions that the use of edible biomass.
US renewable fuels targets specifically target production and consumption of cellulosic ethanol, requiring 16 billion gallons to be produced each year by 2022.
POET, which has its headquarters in Sioux Falls, SD, has developed a process at its Scotland pilot plant that it says has a negative carbon footprint, thanks in part to making use of waste materials to power the process
(see this BrighterEnergy.org story).
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