Poet-DSM ramps up production at Iowa-based cellulosic ethanol plant

Poet-DSM, a joint venture cellulosic ethanol company, is expanding production capacity at its Iowa-based plant called Project Liberty.

The firm said it is ramping up production at its cellulosic ethanol plant to its full 20 million gallon per year capacity.

Project Liberty converts baled corn cobs, leaves, husk and stalk into renewable fuel. It converts around 770 tonnes of biomass per day into cellulosic ethanol.

Speaking at the launch of the plant in 2014, Poet founder and executive chairman, Jeff Broin, said: “Some have called cellulosic ethanol a ‘fantasy fuel,’ but today it becomes a reality.

“With access now to new sources for energy, Project Liberty can be the first step in transforming our economy, our environment and our national security.”

Feike Sijbesma, CEO and chairman of the managing board of Royal DSM, said: “This is an historical day in the development of plant-residue-based cellulosic ethanol as a viable, commercially attractive alternative to gasoline as we are moving from the fossil-age to the (bio-) renewable-age.

“For DSM this is a strategic investment, applying our proprietary technology to convert agricultural residue on a commercial scale, allowing it to be replicated at other facilities globally as we are ramping up our cellulosic ethanol licensing business.”

Besides ethanol, Poet-DSM’s plant produces biogas from its anaerobic digester and steam from its solid-fuel boiler to produce power to run its own processes and export energy to the adjacent grain-based ethanol plant.