SIOUX FALLS, SD – Steve Hartig, currently Vice President Bio-Energy with DSM’s Bio-based Products & Services unit, is named General Manager POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels LLC, and is responsible for the roll-out and licensing of the JV’s integrated technology packages. In this role Steve Hartig will report to the Board of Directors of the JV.

Construction is underway in Emmetsburg, Iowa on POET-DSM’s first commercial-scale cellulosic bio-ethanol facility, dubbed “Project LIBERTY,” which will initially produce 20 million gallons of biofuel per year ramping up to 25 million gallons per year. The joint venture intends to replicate and license the technology demonstrated at Project LIBERTY. It would be available to third parties both in the U.S. and across the world as well as additional plants within the POET network. Hartig’s focus will be to oversee licensing for the JV.

“Completion of Project LIBERTY is just the first step in what this joint venture plans to accomplish. By licensing, we will make this groundbreaking technology available to others in the US and around the world,” POET CEO Jeff Lautt said. “Steve’s background and expertise make him an excellent fit to lead this initiative.”

DSM’s Bio-Energy cluster has main activities in Elgin (IL), São Paulo (Brazil), and Delft (the Netherlands). Anton Robek, President Bio-based Products and Services at DSM, will take up Steve’s responsibilities for the Bio-energy cluster outside of the POET-DSM JV. This will cover DSM’s activities in cellulosic bio-ethanol, excluding the POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels partnership, renewable diesel based on DSM’s platform for microbial oils, and industrial biogas.

Steve Hartig joined DSM in 1990 in Engineering Plastics as Sales and Marketing Manager for the US automotive industry and progressed through several roles within this business in the US and Europe.

“Steve brings broad experience in sales and marketing for a variety of new businesses within DSM. With his solid track record in commercializing innovations and new developments, he is cut out for the role in this very important partnership for DSM,” said Anton Robek. “With his leadership and industry experience, I have full trust that POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels shall deliver the key to unlock the cellulosic bio-ethanol opportunity.”

Hartig, who is married with two children, brings 30 years of chemical industry experience with DSM and DuPont to POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels. He headed several business units within DSM in the fields of coating resins, biomedical materials, and fiber optic coatings, before moving into the bio-energy field in 2012.

About POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels, LLC
POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels, LLC, is a 50/50 joint venture between Royal DSM and POET, LLC. Based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the company is a cooperative effort of two innovators that provides a key to unlocking the opportunity of converting corn crop residue into cellulosic bio-ethanol. Built on the strengths of both companies, the joint venture has a critical mission: to make cellulosic bio-ethanol competitive with corn bio-ethanol, the most competitive renewable liquid transportation fuel on the US market today. Drawing on the deep expertise and experience of POET and DSM in different areas of converting cellulosic biomass into bio-ethanol, POET - DSM Advanced Biofuels will have its first commercial-scale plant co-located with POET' Biorefining -- Emmetsburg in Emmetsburg, Iowa. Based on this plant, the JV plans to globally license an integrated technology package for the conversion of corn crop residue to cellulosic bio-ethanol. More information: www.poetdsm.com



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