Commercial-Scale Cellulosic Ethanol Plants Bloom in Iowa

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Iowa will soon see the opening of two large, commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants. POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels, a 50:50 joint venture between ethanol producer POET (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) and biotechnology developer Royal DSM (Heerlen, Netherlands), plans to celebrate the grand opening of its 25 million-gallon-per-year Project LIBERTY plant on September 3. Later this year, DuPont (NYSE:DD) (Wilmington, Delaware) anticipates the start-up of its 30 million-gallon-per-year cellulosic plant.

Industrial info is tracking 15 U.S. cellulosic ethanol projects with a construction value worth an estimated $2 billion, including six active projects worth $854 million to be located in the Midwest.

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Cellulosic ethanol is generally defined as a biofuel made from wood, grasses or the inedible parts of plants. The Iowa facilities will use corn stover, which is the leaves, stalks and husks that are left over after corn harvests. Commercial production of cellulosic ethanol has been promoted as the next stage in biofuel development.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed Renewable Fuel Standards for 2014 called for 17 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel, or 0.01% of the nation's fuel mix, but the agency is still working to finalize the rules and has pushed back the fuel-blending compliance period for the 2013 standards. The EPA has greatly scaled back its goals for cellulosic biofuel production.

Questions also continue about whether cellulosic biofuel, and all of its associated costs, is commercially viable.

Meanwhile, the POET-Royal DSM Advanced Biofuels plant at Emmetsburg will open its doors to the public in a grand opening on September 3. The project carries a total investment value of $225 million. Detailed engineering began in January 2012.

"Project LIBERTY will process 770 tons of corn cobs, leaves, husk and some stalk daily to produce 20 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year, later ramping up to 25 million gallons per year," POET-Royal DSM said in an August 12 press release. "Plant personnel are currently running biomass through the pretreatment process and preparing for the first gallons of ethanol. Project LIBERTY will be the flagship plant in POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels' plan to license this technology to companies across the U.S. and around the world."

DuPont plans to start up its cellulosic ethanol plant, with an estimated investment of $275 million, during the fourth quarter in the Iowa town of Nevada.

"You've heard us talk about cellulosic ethanol for some number of years. Already, this is a critical year in bringing that technology forward to its next step in commercialization," DuPont Senior Vice President and Chief Science & Technology Officer Douglas W. Muzyka told analysts at the Jefferies Global Industrials Conference on August 11. He added the Nevada, Iowa, facility will be the largest cellulosic ethanol plant in the world, "and a forerunner of a revenue stream associated with not only licensing that technology, but in fact, supplying enzymes to enable that technology to perform as it commercializes out over the next number of years."

The plant will consume feedstock from within a 30-mile radius, and will employ 85 workers, according to DuPont.

The Poet-DSM and DuPont plants may be the biggest commercial cellulosics producers in the state, but the operators of a smaller operation, the Quad County Corn Processors Cooperative's "bolt-on" bio-refinery at Galva, maintain theirs was the first.

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With a total investment value of $8.5 million, the Galva project was completed in the second quarter of this year, according to Industrial Info.

The 2.5 million-gallon-per-year plant, which was added to the cooperative's existing 30 million-gallon conventional corn-starch ethanol plant, turns corn kernel fibers into cellulosic ethanol. A grand opening ceremony will be held on September 9.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.