POET CEO Jeff Broin was surrounded by the media Wednesday after President Obama made a visit to a POET ethanol plant in Macon, Missouri. It gave him an opportunity to address some of the criticism of ethanol regarding its impact on the environment.

“Today ethanol is 59 percent lower in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline and so it is far more environmentally friendly,” Broin responded to a reporter’s question. He talked about indirect land use change, cellulosic ethanol, increasing efficiency of ethanol plants and the ability of cars to run efficiently on higher blends of ethanol. “I personally own a flex-fuel vehicle that gets the same mileage on E30 as it gets on regular gasoline,” Broin said.

Although he admitted not having enough time with President Obama to talk extensively about issues facing the industry, Broin said he believes the president supports biofuels. “I think the president has been a true champion for biofuels,” said Broin. “He was when he was in Illinois, he seems to still be extremely supportive, the secretary of agriculture is very supportive and I think that we’ll continue to see the president be very supportive of biofuels.”