DuPont businesses Pioneer Hi-Bred and DuPont Industrial Biosciences are collaborating with Iowa State University in performing studies on residue to establish best practices in harvesting, storage and transportation, with an eye toward its use in cellulosic ethanol production in the near future.
Agronomic benefits of residue removal include preventing stand establishment concerns in the following crop and avoiding nitrogen tie-up to reduce additional applications. Good residue management practices are crucial to overcoming some of the challenges associated with reduced-tillage systems.
While these best management practices can help growers today, DuPont Industrial Biosciences is developing solutions for tomorrow that address the residue itself, planning to build one of the world’s first commercial cellulosic ethanol biorefineries in Nevada, Iowa, which will require thousands of tons of stover from Iowa fields.
“Currently, the most plentiful agricultural source of ligno-cellulosic biomass for ethanol production in the U.S. is corn stover,” says Steve Mirshak, business director for DuPont’s cellulosic ethanol program. “We’re currently working with an exclusive group of growers in a pilot program to collect stover in support of the biorefinery. When completed, the plant will be fueled almost exclusively by cornstalks.”
University research suggests that at a high yield level of 200 bushels per acre or more, growers can remove up to 40 percent of stover without negatively impacting soil organic matter. DuPont officials believe that cellulosic ethanol production could become a common form of residue management in the future while providing additional value to growers for their crops.
In September 2011, Aventine announced it was delaying work on the plant due to uncertainty surrounding its ability to secure critical third-party technical and engineering support. Since that time, the company has secured the support necessary to move the project forward and now anticipates resuming work in early March 2012 with production expected to start this summer.
An Australian ethanol producer has received the first completed commercial certification from the 
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“The market for ethanol has grown exponentially over the past decade, thus utilizing an abundance of corn to meet the already-present need for a renewable, domestic biofuel,” said Chad Willis, a Minnesota corn grower who serves as chairman of the committee. “Now, we face a myriad of challenges and opportunities as those in the industry continue to innovate while some outside of it continue attempts to deny ethanol’s incredible value to our nation.”
The committee of farmer leaders from around the Corn Belt also had the opportunity to meet the NCGA’s new Director of Biofuel Programs and Business Development Pam Keck, who is a scientist and educator with more than 20 years of experience in the agricultural and biofuels industry, academia and not-for-profit research.
RFA’s Bob Dinneen says the legislation sponsored by Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) injects “parochial politics into the scientifically established process of approving new fuels.”
First, the Repowering Assistance Program provides approximately $25 million in funding to biorefineries that have been in existence on or before June 18, 2008. The purpose of the program is to provide a financial incentive to biorefineries to use renewable biomass in place of fossil fuels used to produce heat or power. By providing this assistance, USDA is helping these facilities install new systems that use renewable biomass.