Poet, LLC, has formed a joint venture to commercially demonstrate and license cellulosic bio-ethanol with Royal DSM, a global science-based company.
Poet-DSM Advanced Biofuels, LLC, is set to start production sometime in the second half of 2013 to produce cellulosic ethanol from corn crop residue using enzymatic hydrolysis, followed by fermentation.
The first commercial demonstration of the technology will be at Project Liberty, being constructed adjacent to Poet's existing corn ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, IA. The initial capacity is expected to be 20 million gallons in the first year.
Poet-DSM intends to replicate and license the technology to additional plants to be built at the other 26 corn ethanol facilities in Poet's network and license it to other producers in the U.S. and the rest of the world.
DSM and Poet will each hold a 50% share in the joint venture, to be headquartered in Sioux Falls, SD.
"We believe that the joint venture positions us well to meet our ambitious cellulosic ethanol production goals," says Jeff Broin, founder and CEO of Poet, which started operating a cellulosic bio-ethanol pilot plant at its research center in Scotland, SD. For the past five years, Poet has worked with farmers to bale, transport and store corn crop residue left in fields after grain harvest.
DSM is the only company offering both yeast and enzyme solutions to increase conversion rates to make the technology commercially viable.
For more information, visit www.poetdsm.com.