POET Opens the First Ethanol Plant in Ohio

"We are honored to open the first ethanol plant in the Buckeye state and the first in the nation since the historic legislation of the 2007 Energy Bill," Jeff Broin, CEO of POET, said. "This inspiring piece of leadership goes further than we ever have gone before as a nation to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy. We are proud to be here today doing everything in our power to continue to move our nation away from Middle-East oil and toward Midwest ethanol."

"The State of Ohio is excited to partner with POET to bring about a transformation in how we as Americans produce and consume energy," Governor Strickland said. "POET has demonstrated its commitment to expanding an important home-grown energy source. This increased production of ethanol in Ohio replaces millions of barrels of imported oil with domestic renewable energy. It is crucial that Ohio foster advanced, reliable, and affordable energy sources - for our economy, our pocketbooks, and our environment."

Congressman Latta said, "As energy demands continue to grow in the United States, the nation's dependency on Middle Eastern Oil must decline. The POET Biorefining facility is an important piece of our energy plan to help reduce that dependency by producing clean burning ethanol, economic growth, and jobs to northwest Ohio."

The facility, the 28th constructed by POET since they were founded 20 years ago, will be equipped with technology that decreases its environmental footprint. That technology includes POET's patent-pending BPX^TM process that eliminates the need for heat in the cooking process of producing ethanol, reducing energy usage by 8-15 percent in comparison with conventional plants. It will also be outfitted with a regenerative thermal oxidizer that eliminates up to 99.9 percent of air emissions.

"It's a great day for Ohio to have a company like POET opening the first of their three ethanol plants in the state," said Mike Wagner. "Congratulations to the leaders of Leipsic and residents of Putnam County for their diligence and efforts to promote development in their community and county."

"We're excited to welcome the POET family to the community," Mayor Kevin Benton said. "It's great to have a new industry in Leipsic and we look forward to working with them as the ethanol industry progresses."

POET Biorefining - Leipsic will utilize 22 million bushels of corn from the area to produce 65 million gallons of ethanol and 178,000 tons of Dakota Gold Enhanced Nutrition Distillers Products^TM per year. Ethanol marketing for the facility is provided by POET Ethanol Products and byproducts are marketed by POET Nutrition. Rail access is through Norfolk Southern and CSX. The $105 million facility employs 45 people with an annual payroll above $2 million.

POET Biorefining - Leipsic is the first of three ethanol production facilities that POET will open in Ohio this year. Additional POET plants are currently under construction in Marion and Fostoria.

About POET
POET, the largest ethanol producer in the world according to the Renewable Fuels Association, is an established leader in the biorefining industry through project development, design and construction, research and development, plant management, and marketing. Formerly known as Broin, the 20-year old company currently operates 22 production facilities in the United States with five more in construction or under development. The company produces and markets more than 1.17 billion gallons of ethanol annually.