POET announced today the purchase of a 90 million gallon-per-year ethanol plant located just outside Cloverdale, Ind. and previously operated by Altra Biofuels.
The transaction closed June 29. Once open, the Cloverdale plant will be POET's fourth in Indiana and 27th overall, putting annual ethanol production capacity at 1.7 billion gallons per year.
POET CEO Jeff Broin said the productive agriculture community in and around Cloverdale, coupled with POET's unique processes and technology, will make POET Biorefining -- Cloverdale a leader in the industry.
"We have been looking at potential acquisitions for some time," Broin said. "This plant, in this community, will be a perfect fit for what we do at POET."
POET will install the company's proprietary process technology and improve the original plant design. The approximately $30 million in upgrades include BPX, POET's patent-pending fermentation process which uses enzymes instead of heat, reducing energy use by 10-15 percent. In addition, POET will install a water recovery system and new pollution control equipment. POET expects to reopen the plant in about 9 months.
A number of other processes could be installed at the plant in the future, including cellulosic ethanol production from corn cobs, which POET will commercialize soon in Emmetsburg, Iowa.
"This plant has all the ingredients we need to put together a top operation: a steady corn supply, rail access, a great workforce and productive farmers," Broin said. "The ample corn supply in the area includes significant quantities of agricultural waste, making the plant a likely location for cellulosic ethanol production in the future."
Source : Press Release
June 30, 2010
New Ethanol Fact Book now available
The Flagship publication of the Clean Fuels Development Coalition and the Ethanol Across America program for nearly 15 years has been the Ethanol Fact Book. This unique document provides hundreds of sourced facts relating to ethanol and addresses issues regarding the ethanol tax incentive, energy security and oil import reductions, economic impacts and benefits to the U.S. Treasury, greenhouse gas reduction and environmental benefits, and advancements in cellulose conversion technologies. In addition, developments in flexible fuel vehicle production and high level blends are addressed.
U.S. Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) Co-Chair of the Ethanol Across America campaign said, "As Congress continues its work on an energy bill it is essential that it will continue to support and enhance our nation’s use of renewable fuels. Ethanol supports our efforts to create jobs, stimulate the economy, reduce the use of oil, and improve the environment. Through the Ethanol Across America education program, we are getting the facts out and believe when people understand the wide range of benefits ethanol provides they will continue to support it. The Clean Fuels Development Coalition has done a tremendous job in educating the public about this issue through this fact book.”
U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), co-chair of the Ethanol Across America campaign, said, "Energy is a vitally strategic national security issue for our country. The real cost of petroleum includes the use of our military to defend shipping lanes and maintain geopolitical stability in oil producing regions. Increasing the development and production of renewable fuels such as ethanol will help ensure national and economic security. As the Ethanol Fact Book illustrates, with high oil prices ethanol production becomes even more important and farmers growing corn, and other energy crops, will add to our nation’s energy security while helping our communities prosper."
Ethanol Fact Book
U.S. Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) Co-Chair of the Ethanol Across America campaign said, "As Congress continues its work on an energy bill it is essential that it will continue to support and enhance our nation’s use of renewable fuels. Ethanol supports our efforts to create jobs, stimulate the economy, reduce the use of oil, and improve the environment. Through the Ethanol Across America education program, we are getting the facts out and believe when people understand the wide range of benefits ethanol provides they will continue to support it. The Clean Fuels Development Coalition has done a tremendous job in educating the public about this issue through this fact book.”
U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), co-chair of the Ethanol Across America campaign, said, "Energy is a vitally strategic national security issue for our country. The real cost of petroleum includes the use of our military to defend shipping lanes and maintain geopolitical stability in oil producing regions. Increasing the development and production of renewable fuels such as ethanol will help ensure national and economic security. As the Ethanol Fact Book illustrates, with high oil prices ethanol production becomes even more important and farmers growing corn, and other energy crops, will add to our nation’s energy security while helping our communities prosper."
Ethanol Fact Book
Posted by
Michael A. Gregory
at
12:46 AM
POET Alexandria Ethanol Plant Cuts Water Usage
Wastewater discharge at POET Biorefining -- Alexandria (Ind.) will soon drop significantly thanks to cutting-edge technology known as Total Water Recovery.
By late August or early September, the new system will be filtering and recycling water used in ethanol production. It will eliminate about 93,000 gallons of discharged water per day, making the plant even more environmentally friendly and conserving valuable water resources for the city of Alexandria and other area residents.
Currently, POET Biorefining -- Alexandria uses 3.18 gallons of water to make 1 gallon of ethanol. After installation of POET's technology, that will be dropped to 2.62 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol.
"POET engineers and scientists are constantly testing new ways to make ethanol production even better, and it's great that we have the opportunity to take advantage of that and make these upgrades," General Manager Dave Hudak said.
The plant will seek to amend its water permit to allow for cleaning updated systems and in case of emergencies.
The Total Water Recovery installation at POET Biorefining -- Alexandria is the latest step in a company-wide sustainability initiative called "Ingreenuity." The first goal of Ingreenuity is to cut water use at POET plants by a total of 1 billion gallons over the next five years, a 22 percent reduction.
Source Press Release
By late August or early September, the new system will be filtering and recycling water used in ethanol production. It will eliminate about 93,000 gallons of discharged water per day, making the plant even more environmentally friendly and conserving valuable water resources for the city of Alexandria and other area residents.
Currently, POET Biorefining -- Alexandria uses 3.18 gallons of water to make 1 gallon of ethanol. After installation of POET's technology, that will be dropped to 2.62 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol.
"POET engineers and scientists are constantly testing new ways to make ethanol production even better, and it's great that we have the opportunity to take advantage of that and make these upgrades," General Manager Dave Hudak said.
The plant will seek to amend its water permit to allow for cleaning updated systems and in case of emergencies.
The Total Water Recovery installation at POET Biorefining -- Alexandria is the latest step in a company-wide sustainability initiative called "Ingreenuity." The first goal of Ingreenuity is to cut water use at POET plants by a total of 1 billion gallons over the next five years, a 22 percent reduction.
Source Press Release
Posted by
Michael A. Gregory
at
12:40 AM
April Ethanol Production Down Slightly
U.S. ethanol production fell slightly in April. According to information from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), April 2010 ethanol production averaged more than 832,000 barrels per day (b/d). That is down from 847,000 b/d in March.
Ethanol demand, as calculated by the Renewable Fuels Association, reached an all time high at 834,000 b/d in April, up from 673,000 b/d a year ago.
EIA also reports fuel ethanol imports of 1.5 million gallons in April.
As the RFA recently reported, America is exporting ethanol at record rates. According to data from the Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau, and the Dept. of Agriculture Foreign Ag Service, the U.S. exported 40.8 million gallons of ethanol in April.
Source : Renewable Fuels Association
Ethanol demand, as calculated by the Renewable Fuels Association, reached an all time high at 834,000 b/d in April, up from 673,000 b/d a year ago.
EIA also reports fuel ethanol imports of 1.5 million gallons in April.
As the RFA recently reported, America is exporting ethanol at record rates. According to data from the Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau, and the Dept. of Agriculture Foreign Ag Service, the U.S. exported 40.8 million gallons of ethanol in April.
Source : Renewable Fuels Association
Posted by
Michael A. Gregory
at
12:24 AM
June 29, 2010
ZeaChem Announces Cellulosic Ethanol Production
ZeaChem Inc., a developer of biorefineries for the conversion of renewable biomass into sustainable fuels and chemicals, today announced the successful production of ethanol at a capacity that can be scaled to commercial production. ZeaChem's results have been confirmed by third party vendors who will enable production of ZeaChem biofuels and bio-based chemicals. The company will now demonstrate the integration of its biorefining processes at its 250,000 gallon per year Boardman, Oregon biorefinery.
Using off-the-shelf catalysts and standard equipment in an innovative way, ZeaChem produced ethanol from ethyl acetate through a process called hydrogenation -a common industrial practice that is readily scaled to commercial levels.
On June 2, 2010, the company broke ground on its 250,000 gallon-per-year biorefinery in Boardman, Oregon, the core technology of which will begin to come online in 2010. The integrated facility is being partially funded by a $25 million grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The company will use the grant to build the chemical fractionation on the front end and the hydrogenation process on the back end for making cellulosic ethanol. The facility will begin to produce cellulosic ethanol in 2011. ZeaChem intends to build commercial biorefineries upon successful operations at the Boardman facility.
Source ZeaChem Press Release
Using off-the-shelf catalysts and standard equipment in an innovative way, ZeaChem produced ethanol from ethyl acetate through a process called hydrogenation -a common industrial practice that is readily scaled to commercial levels.
On June 2, 2010, the company broke ground on its 250,000 gallon-per-year biorefinery in Boardman, Oregon, the core technology of which will begin to come online in 2010. The integrated facility is being partially funded by a $25 million grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The company will use the grant to build the chemical fractionation on the front end and the hydrogenation process on the back end for making cellulosic ethanol. The facility will begin to produce cellulosic ethanol in 2011. ZeaChem intends to build commercial biorefineries upon successful operations at the Boardman facility.
Source ZeaChem Press Release
Posted by
Michael A. Gregory
at
2:14 AM