Verbio kicks off 2023 harvest season

Verbio has launched its second corn stover harvest at its large-scale plant in Nevada, Iowa. The company sources the feedstock from local growers within a 60-mile-radius of its production facilities.
As a fast-growing global company and one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of biofuels, bioenergy and renewable components for chemical industries, it has developed, installed and scaled up its unique technology to produce sustainable fuel from agricultural residues.
At its Nevada plant, the company has been producing renewable natural gas from corn stover on an industrial scale since December 2021.
It is injected directly into the natural gas distribution and transmission grid to be utilised as a climate friendly green fuel.
Besides looking forward to a successful corn stover harvest for RNG production, Verbio is working on the commissioning of ethanol production in addition to the biomethane produced at the facility.
Greg Faith, president of the firm, said: “The integration of RNG and ethanol production, unique to Verbio, incorporates advanced operational technology to build on the company’s successful experiences in Europe.
The Nevada biorefinery will be the largest plant in the country to utilise this advanced technology. It will open up even more opportunities to the Iowa farmer, as well as provide a renewable alternative solution to fossil fuels.
“Unlocking the value of organic residue materials by creating RNG is a rapidly growing market in the United States. Successfully cooperating with local growers in the region is the foundation of our business, especially here in Iowa.
“The potential benefits of corn stover as a renewable fuel source are massive. We are planning to harvest approximately 135,000 bales of stover required to ensure full production over the next 12 months.”
With a fleet of equipment, consisting of 25 trucks and 18 balers, choppers and accumulators, the agronomy team at the company is ready to serve local agriculture businesses. Once a farmer has completed harvest in a field that is under contract, the agronomy team chops, bales, and hauls corn stover off the growers’ field. The bales are then stored on site at the Nevada plant and used in the RNG production process.
Corn stover are the stalks, leaves, husks, sheaths, tassels and more that are considered agricultural residue materials. By harvesting these organic residue materials, growers not only generate an additional revenue source for their business.