POET Vice President of Commercial Development Scott Weishaar will detail how bold policy decisions have made ethanol a threat to fossil fuel dominance and how similar vision in the future will revive rural industry with technology such as cellulosic ethanol and help free us from oil dependence in testimony next week before the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.

Weishaar will testify Tuesday, May 18 at the House Agriculture Committee hearing in Sioux Falls, S.D. on the Second Floor Theater of the Edith Mortenson Center at Augustana College. The committee hearing begins at 8 a.m.

The hearing is intended to review U.S. agriculture policy in advance of the 2012 Farm Bill. Weishaar will detail important provisions that should be included in the Farm Bill to help the ethanol industry reach its potential.

In helping fulfill the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, POET has become the largest ethanol producer in the world, producing more than 1.6 billion gallons of ethanol per year. Since the company began 22 years ago, it has dropped energy use by 50 percent and water use by 80 percent per gallon of ethanol. POET will break ground this year on a 25 million-gallon-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant, which will use corn cobs and some high-cut material as feedstock, and the process can be adapted in future years to take advantage of the available feedstock of any state in the country.

About POET
POET, the largest ethanol producer in the world, is a leader in biorefining through its efficient, vertically integrated approach to production. The 22-year-old company produces more than 1.6 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.

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Scott Weishaar

House Agriculture Committee schedule