POET Director of Corporate Affairs Doug Berven will discuss challenges in developing feedstock infrastructure for cellulosic ethanol production in a panel discussion this week.

Berven will participate in Platts fourth annual Cellulosic Ethanol and 2nd Generation Biofuels conference at the Embassy Suites Downtown Lakefront in Chicago. He will be part of a panel Friday for a segment titled “Biomass Feedstocks – Availability, Cost, and Logistical Challenges.”

POET is now using corn cobs to produce cellulosic ethanol at a pilot plant in Scotland, S.D. That process will move to commercial scale in Project LIBERTY, a 25 million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant to be built in Emmetsburg, Iowa.

POET recently received a grant increase to help build the feedstock infrastructure for Project LIBERTY. The U.S. Department of Energy approved a $6.85 million increase to an existing grant to provide incentives for farmers and manufacturers to speed production and use of cob-harvesting equipment. Negotiations are underway for another $13.15 million grant increase for the same purpose.

POET is also working with Iowa State University on sustainability research regarding corn cobs.

To see a documentary about POET’s pilot cellulosic ethanol plant visit www.poet.com/cellulosedocumentary.htm.

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.

# # #