FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Matt Merritt, Media Relations Specialist
Phone: (605) 965-2225 / (605) 370-9959
E-mail: matt.merritt@poet.com

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Feb. 4, 2009) – POET will outline the vast potential for new jobs from cellulosic ethanol at the Good Jobs Green Jobs National Conference this week in Washington, D.C.

Doug Berven, POET’s Director of Corporate Affairs, will be part of a workshop Friday outlining the current contribution of the biofuels industries to the U.S. economy as well as the prospects for new jobs and rural economic development as commercial cellulosic ethanol plants start coming online.

Berven will be joined by Nathaniel Doyno, Director of Steel City Biofuels; Nathanael Greene, Renewable Fuels Expert for Natural Resources Defense Council; and John Urbanchuk, Director, LECG, LLC.

Speakers at the conference include Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as members of Congress and governors from around the United States.

In the fourth quarter of 2008, POET began producing cellulosic ethanol on a pilot scale at the POET Research Center in Scotland, S.D. The $8 million pilot plant is a precursor to the $200 million Project LIBERTY, a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant that will begin production at a rate of 25 million gallons per year in 2011 in Emmetsburg, Iowa.
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 according to the Renewable Fuels Association, is an established leader in the biorefining industry through project development, design and construction, research and development, plant management, and marketing. The 20-year-old company currently operates 26 production facilities in the United States. The company produces and markets more than 1.54 billion gallons of ethanol annually. For more information, go to http://www.poet.com.

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