ACE Conference 2026

This Farmer Likes Idea of Corn Cob Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

FarmersWhen you’re attending a farm event it’s always nice to get a farmer’s perspective on things. That’s what I did at the POET Project LIBERTY field day when I spoke with Todd Mathisen who farms just east of Emmetsburg, IA. I asked him what he thought of POET’s idea to harvest corn cobs for cellulosic ethanol production. He said, “I think it’s a great idea. I think we’re definitely going to add value to corn. Anything that produces more revenue, it’s going to take more work but I think open-minded farmers will grab hold of this and I think it’ll be a good deal.”

Now that sounds positive. Todd says the cobs are basically a waste product that isn’t even that good for the ground and he likes the idea of turning them into energy. Seems to make sense to me too. He’s a little apprehensive of the equipment that’s being developed and the labor involved but he’s sure that improvements will be made over the next couple years.

I also asked him about President-Elect Obama. He likes the fact that the Illinois Senator has always been supportive of renewable fuels. He’s interested to see what will happen.

Todd says he just finished his harvesting. He worked it wet, planted it wet but thinks he still got a good crop and he seems pretty happy about it.

You can listen to my interview with Todd here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/poet/poet-liberty-08-mathisen.mp3]

You can also download the interview with this link (mp3).

Project LIBERTY Field Day Photo Album

Audio, corn, Ethanol, POET

Ethanol Conversations

Cindy Zimmerman

EPIC ToniThe executive director of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) recently unveiled her new blog, Ethanol Conversations.

Toni Nuernberg’s site focuses on spurring conversations and debates on the continued growth of ethanol in the United States and around the world.

EPIC is also utilizing new media in other ways, including a page on Facebook, and a YouTube channel featuring seven videos.

EPIC, Ethanol, News

Corn Cob Harvesting Will Be Economical

Chuck Zimmerman

James SturdevantThe Director of Project LIBERTY for POET is Jim Sturdevant. He oversees all the activities across the company that are “pulling together to transform this ethanol plant into one of the nation’s first cellulosic ethanol plants.” The plant he’s referring to is POET’s Emmetsburg facility where they held a field day yesterday. He says they intend to replicate what they’re doing with the local plant at their other facilities. Jim was very happy with the turnout at their field day even though the weather was not very cooperative.

Jim says they’ve been doing research on corn cob harvesting as well as the economic viability of doing it. He says, “We will not move forward unless this is economical.” Their models show that it will be although there is no pricing on the prototype equipment that was on display at the event.

I think it was interesting to hear him talk about the research into how to store the cobs. It looks like all you have to do is pile them up at the edge of the field for POET to pick them up.

You can listen to my interview with Jim here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/poet/poet-liberty-08-sturdevant.mp3]

You can also download the interview with this link (mp3).

Project LIBERTY Field Day Photo Album

Audio, Cellulosic, corn, Ethanol, POET

Deere Designing Corn Cob Harvest Equipment

Chuck Zimmerman

John Deere CombineThere are several farm equipment manufacturers working with POET on corn cob harvesting solutions. One of them is John Deere. Of the current options for harvesting/collecting the cobs, Deere is working on the corn cob mix kit (CCM) option. It’s basically an attachment to the combine according to John Deere’s Barry Nelson, who was attending the POET Project LIBERTY field day.

Barry says that this will allow farmers to produce up to 11 percent more ethanol per acre. That’s a pretty good gain in efficiency. He says they’re also looking at other equipment options including a special cart or new combine.

You can listen to my interview with Barry here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/poet/poet-liberty-08-nelson.mp3]

You can also download the interview with this link (mp3).

Project LIBERTY Field Day Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Farming, POET

Patriot Ethanol is Processor Preferred

Cindy Zimmerman

Illinois’ newest ethanol plant adds to a growing list of facilities that are part of the Monsanto Processor Preferred Network.

Patriot Renewable FuelsPatriot Renewable Fuels CEO Gene Griffith says they hope to use as much corn as possible from local farmers to produce ethanol at the new 100 million gallon per year plant. “We will need approximately 215,000 acres worth of corn every year to keep the plant at capacity,” Griffith says. “We hope to buy as much corn as we can from area producers and provide a new market opportunity for them.”

MonsantoIn special demand will be Monsanto’s Processor Preferred® High Fermentable Corn (HFC) hybrids, which can produce 2 percent to 4 percent more ethanol per bushel than commodity corn. Patriot joins approximately 70 ethanol plants in 16 states that are participating in the Processor Preferred Network.

“High-fermentable corn is a win-win for both corn growers and Patriot Renewable Fuels,” says Rob Elliott, Processor Preferred Market Manager for Monsanto. “Farmers have a new corn market, and the ethanol producer has a more productive and efficient local source of corn. We are very pleased to have Patriot Renewable Fuels as part of our initiative.”

Patriotically, the new plant in northwest Illinois held open houses on Wednesday and Thursday this week, right after election day. Patriot is one of the largest locally owned and operated dry grind ethanol plants in the state, made possible by the investment of farmers and businesses located in Annawan, Kewanee, Geneseo and the surrounding communities in Henry, Bureau and Rock Island counties.

Agribusiness, Ethanol, Facilities, News

E85 is Introduced to the Public in Buffalo, NY

A grand opening event was held today to celebrate the introduction of the first E85 fueling facility in the Buffalo, NY area. The pump is located in North Tonawanda, at a Wilson Farms store at 1060 Niagara Falls Blvd., near Ruie Road. According to the Buffalo News, this new site is a result of a joint effort by the convenience store chain and Reid Petroleum.

“We will have E85 in additional locations as customer demand grows for this product,” said Richard Hall, senior fuel manager for Wilson Farms.

Scott Sterry, Reid’s fuels marketing manager, stated that this specific location installed E85 because of the surplus of flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) in the area. There are presently just over 900 FFVs in North Tonawanda and about 8,450 FFVs in Buffalo, NY.

Currently, there are 30 E85 stations throughout the state of New York.

E85, Ethanol, Facilities

Jeff Broin at Project LIBERTY Field Day

Chuck Zimmerman

At today’s POET Project LIBERTY Field Day, Jeff Broin, CEO, spoke to a large group of farmers who attended to see just what the company is planning in the production of cellulosic ethanol from corn cobs. We were supposed to see field harvesting demonstrations with prototype equipment to show the different ways that farmers will be able to collect the cobs for delivery to a local plant like the one here in Emmetsburg, IA but we had to be content to hear it described inside and speak with equipment company representatives. No one complained when the rain was falling!

If you’d like to hear what Jeff had to say then watch this video from today’s program:

You can find more videos from POETTV on YouTube.

Project LIBERTY Field Day Photo Album

Cellulosic, Ethanol, POET, Video

POET Wants LIBERTY From Foreign Oil

Chuck Zimmerman

Jeff BroinJeff Broin is CEO of POET and his company just continues to make innovations in the ethanol production business. Lately they’ve been very focused on what they call Project LIBERTY. The goal is to make cellulosic ethanol out of corn cobs. The company held a field day to showcase some of the equipment that companies like John Deere, Case IH and others are developing to assist with the harvest and collection of this biomass that’s left over after harvesting the grain.

Forbes magazine calls Jeff, Mr. Ethanol and has a nice article on him titled “Mr. Ethanol Fights Back” in their latest edition. I spoke with him today about Project LIBERTY. He says they’re not only adding 100 million gallons of grain ethanol production to the Emmetsburg plant but an addition 25 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol production from corn cobs. They will begin construction on these additions late next year and will have the cellulosic production going by 2011.

Jeff says they’ve invested millions of dollars in the cellulosic ethanol process and have been working with ag equipment OEM’s on corn cob collection. I’ll have more interviews coming up on the various ways they’re doing that. One thing this effort to grow ethanol production from corn cobs does is show the close connection between agriculture and the renewable fuel business. Jeff says cellulosic ethanol production from corn cobs can potentially produce an additional 5 billions gallons of the fuel which would replace a significant portion of the fuel we have to import from foreign countries. He says that’s good for America and the future of our country.

You can see photos of today’s event here: Project LIBERTY Field Day Photo Album. I’ll have a lot more tomorrow. Right now I’ve got a long drive home.

You can listen to my interview with Jeff here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/poet/poet-liberty-08-broin-1.mp3]

You can also download the interview with this link (mp3).

Audio, Cellulosic, Ethanol, POET

POETry In Action

Chuck Zimmerman

POET EmmetsburgAs I was driving into Emmetsburg, IA last night I saw this plant off in the distance. I’m pretty sure this is the POET Emmetsburg ethanol plant. Actually, it’s the AGP soybean processing plant. The POET plant is behind it from the direction I took the photo. I’m here in town for today’s Project LIBERTY field day. We’re supposed to see some field demonstrations but it rained last night and it’s raining right now so we’ll see what happens. Here’s some information about the field day from a recent POET news release.

Farmers next month will see first-hand how equipment manufacturers are responding to the latest advancement in ethanol production and the new revenue opportunity for farmers: harvesting corn cobs for cellulosic ethanol production.

POET hosts Project LIBERTY Field Day Nov. 6 in Emmetsburg, Iowa. The event, which is open to the public, will bring equipment manufacturers large and small together with farmers at POET Biorefining – Emmetsburg to show prototype equipment for efficiently harvesting corn cobs. Farmers will have the chance to talk with equipment dealers and see prototype equipment in action.

Ethanol, POET

Renewables Have Mixed Results at Polls

John Davis

Renewable energy proposals had mixed results in yesterday’s elections, with Missouri easily passing one measure but California rejecting two others.

This entry from the InformationWeek blog has details:

In Missouri, Proposition C was passed, requiring investor-owned electric utilities “to generate or purchase electricity from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, and hydropower with the renewable energy sources equaling at least 2% of retail sales by 2011 increasing incrementally to at least 15% by 2021, including at least 2% from solar energy; and restricting to no more than 1% any rate increase to consumers for this renewable energy.”

In California, Proposition 7 on renewable energy generation was handily defeated. With 77% of precincts reporting, the measure lost by a 2-to-1 margin. Likewise, Proposition 10 failed by a wide margin. Had it been approved, Proposition 10 would, according to the official voter information guide, “eliminate a credit that allows oil and gas companies to deduct property taxes from severance taxes. The change would bring in an estimated $321 million in the first year, with most going to college scholarships, plus communities affected by energy development, wildlife habitat, and clean energy projects.”

California’s Prop 10 came under fire from some environmental groups… as well as some readers of this blog (see my post from Oct. 18th and the associated comments). Just a quick note to all readers: I’m not necessarily promoting any of the items I blog about. I just want to make you aware of these items. It’s up to you to evaluate these things for yourself (whether a ballot measure or some new product). I blog… you decide.

biomass, Government, Legislation, Solar, Wind