POET Gets $105 Million DOE Loan Guarantee for Cellulosic Ethanol Plant

Emmetsburg, Iowa – POET, a privately held, South Dakota-based firm that claims to be the world’s largest ethanol producer, has been awarded a $105 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy to build the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in the country, located in Emmetsburg.

The facility will make fuel from corncobs, leaves and husks provided by local farmers, using an “enzymatic hydrolysis” process to convert waste into ethanol. It will also produce enough biogas to power both the facility itself and POET’s adjacent grain-based ethanol plant, the company said.

The plant is expected to produce 13.5 million gallons of ethanol and provide more than 25% of the EPA’s projected 2013 Renewable Fuel Standard Requirement for biomass-based cellulosic ethanol, according to POET.

POET estimates the project will create about 200 jobs during construction and 40 permanent jobs at the plant

The company said it plans to replicate it process at 27 of its other corn ethanol facilities, which would have a projected combined annual capacity of one billion gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol.

source: smartenergynews