Poet expands cellulosic ethanol

Poet, the largest ethanol producer in the US, has announced plans to open a cellulosic ethanol plant by the end of the year.

The company produces more than 1.3 billion US gallons of ethanol a year from 23 plants, mostly using corn grain. Biofuels, such as ethanol from corn grain, are denounced by environmentalists for increasing carbon emissions through the destruction of virgin land, either to grow corn for ethanol or to grow new food crops which corn for ethanol has displaced. Its use has also been a contributory factor in driving up food prices.

In its defence, Poet points to a recent study by Stanford University which identified more than a billion acres of idle cropland worldwide that has the potential to grow more grain for biofuel.

Cellulosic ethanol is produced from coarser corn fibre and cob, which uses corn plants 11 per cent more efficiently, but requires the use of specialised enzymes to break down the cellulose.

Danish company Novozymes has been working with Poet to develop suitable enzymes.

It is hoped that in future ethanol can be produced from plant waste matter, a by-product of arable farming.

Poet’s new plant in South Dakota will be a pilot facility, costing $4m (£2.1m) and capable of producing about 20,000 US gallons a year. Its purpose is to prove Poet’s enzyme-driven production processes on an industrial scale.

Once that has been proven, Poet will embark on its grandiosely titled Project Liberty, a $200m (£107m) investment programme to convert an existing grain ethanol plant in Iowa to a combined grain and cellulosic ethanol bio-refinery.

The company is aiming to produce 125 million US gallons per year from this plant, a fifth of which will be cellulosic ethanol.

The US and EU have set ambitious targets for expansion of biofuel use, especially in transport. But after intense lobbying from environmental groups, the EU has called for biofuel policy to be reviewed.