POET ‘more optimistic than ever’ about cellulosic ethanol
November 24, 2017 By Ken Anderson Filed Under: Crops, News, Renewable Energy
 POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels’ cellulosic ethanol plant “Project Liberty” near Emmetsburg, Iowa
The recent news that DuPont has closed and plans to sell its two-year old cellulosic ethanol plant in Iowa raised questions about the future of cellulosic ethanol production. But Matt Merritt, public relations director for POET, tells Brownfield they’re more optimistic than they’ve ever been about cellulosic.
“We have overcome what has been the main roadblock to getting this technology out there,” Merritt says, “and we are more excited than we’ve ever been about it.”
Merritt says POET has solved a problem that has plagued cellulosic ethanol producers—getting the biomass, that includes corn cobs, stalks and leaves, to move through the system.
“You’ve got to sort of beat that up and break it down—turn it into kind of a softer mud material—so you can get at it with yeast enzyme and turn that into biofuels,” he says. “That is where the challenge has been, I think, for everybody in this industry. That’s where the real struggle has been is how do you get that to flow through the process properly.”
Merritt says their “pre-treatment” breakthrough is a game-changer for cellulosic ethanol.
“We definitely see a future where this technology is going to be all over the Midwest—and as it evolves to new feedstocks, all over the country and all over the world,” he says.
Merritt says the federal government needs to keep its commitment to cellulosic ethanol in the Renewable Fuel Standard.
“That’s really the only thing that’s going to hold us back.”
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