Presenting his new “cornucopia biorefinery” model to produce food, fertilizer and fuel from corn, SynGest, Inc. CEO Jack Oswald led attendees in chants of “Till Baby Till” as he delivered the keynote address at the 2010 International Biomass Conference in Minneapolis last week.

“Our integrated biorefinery model will put an end to the ‘food versus fuel’ debate,” Oswald said. “Now you can have your fuel and eat it too.”

According to Oswald, the Cornucopia process can yield an impressive slate of end products, including anhydrous ammonia, food grade corn oil, high protein food for human consumption, stillage for animal feed, butanol for liquid transportation fuel, and biochar for conditioning and maintaining soil.

“We intend to use each and every component in an ear of corn,” said Oswald. “The cob and bran are gasified into hydrogen for ammonia synthesis, while leaving biochar as residue. The germ is separated into food grade oil and protein, and the endosperm/starch is converted into butanol and animal feed.” Oswald notes that his integrated biorefinery concept “represents a true intersection between agriculture and energy interests, a formula that sets SynGest apart from others who are just making fuel, power or singular bioproducts.”

The concept has already produced one new product – “Till, Baby, Till” t-shirts – available for $19.99 in short sleeve or $24.99 in long sleeve models.