Iowa ethanol plant to use Syngenta Enogen corn

Under a recently signed commercial agreement, Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy (SIRE) will begin using Syngenta's Enogen corn enzyme technology at its Council Bluffs ethanol production facility in Iowa, US, following the 2015 harvest.

SIRE is a dry-mill grain processing facility that consumes more than 40 million bushels of corn to produce more than 125 million gallons per year of ethanol. SIRE sources grain from a large portion of southwest Iowa and several counties in southeast Nebraska.

According to David Witherspoon, head of Enogen for Syngenta, the robust alpha amylase enzyme found in Enogen grain helps an ethanol plant reduce the viscosity of its corn mash and reduce or eliminate the need to add a liquid form of the enzyme.

'This breakthrough viscosity reduction can lead to unprecedented levels of solids loading, which directly contributes to increased throughput and yield, as well as critical cost savings from reduced natural gas, energy, water and chemical usage,' says Witherspoon. 'Farmers who grow Enogen corn benefit as well – they earn an average premium of $0.40 (€0.37) per bushel. The agreement will enable SIRE to source alpha amylase directly from local growers and keep enzyme dollars in the local community.'

SIRE is the third Iowa plant to sign such an agreement.

 

SOURCE: Syngenta