On first anniversary of pilot plant start-up, POET announces cost reductions in cellulosic ethanol

Jeff Broin, CEO of POET, said he is pleased with the progress the company has made over the past year.

“POET has been working on cellulosic ethanol for close to a decade and there were some days that I wasn’t sure we’d be successful,” Broin said. “While we still have some challenges ahead, I can say unequivocably that Project LIBERTY will be commercially viable by the time we start up the plant.”

Project LIBERTY is POET’s planned 25 million-gallon-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg.

Broin pointed to several areas of progress in the production process that helped them achieve the overall cost reduction:

• Chemical raw materials required in the process have been reduced, resulting in an operating cost savings of $0.20 per gallon.
• The energy used in the pretreatment process has been reduced by more than half.
• Alternative energy technology has been demonstrated to provide all of the energy for the cellulosic ethanol plant and at least 80 percent of the adjacent corn-based plant.
• Enzyme cost has been cut in half and is expected to decline by start-up of Project LIBERTY.
• Through continuous optimization of the process, entire unit operations have been eliminated, reducing overall capital cost by over 40 percent.

Dr. Mark Stowers, Senior Vice President of Science and Technology for POET, said that there are some promising areas for future cost reductions in the cellulosic production process.

“There are still several opportunities to make the process more efficient,” Dr. Stowers said, “particularly in fermentation. Additionally our enzyme partners have committed to significant additional cost reductions. But significant gains can also be made once we start up the commercial facility and POET uses its 20+ year history in biorefining to drive cost reductions and efficiency improvements in the process.”

Visit POET TV for a full video interview with Dr. Stowers plus b-roll footage of POET’s cellulosic ethanol efforts.

POET’s pilot-scale plant is in Scotland, S.D. and has produced approximately 20,000 gallons of cellulosic ethanol since it started producing on November 18, 2008. To see a documentary about POET’s pilot cellulosic ethanol plant visit www.poet.com/cellulosedocumentary.htm. Media outlets are welcome to link to the documentary in online coverage. Photos are also available for publication at http://www.poet.com/news/releases.asp.

About POET

POET, the largest ethanol producer in the world, is a leader in biorefining through its efficient, vertically integrated approach to production. The 20-year-old company produces more than 1.54 billion gallons of ethanol annually from 26 production facilities nationwide. POET recently started up a pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol plant, which uses corn cobs as feedstock, and will commercialize the process in Emmetsburg, Iowa. For more information, visit http://www.poet.com or http://www.projectliberty.com.

# # #