POET To Build New Cellulosic Ethanol Plant

POET, the world’s largest ethanol producer, plans to break ground on its first cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, IA, later this year. The company will participate in a plan to produce 3.5 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year by 2022 — an announcement Chief Executive Officer Jeff Broin recently made at the National Press Club in Washington.

POET will add the cellulosic technology to its existing network of 26 corn-based ethanol plants to produce 1 billion gallons of cellulosic fuel, and it will license that technology to other corn-based ethanol producers to produce another 1.4 billion gallons of the fuel. Another 1.1 billion gallons will come from a wide variety of feedstocks from across the country, produced by POET or through POET Biomass, which provides logistical support to other producers.