Both Abengoa Bioenergy and Poet LLC hope to have the first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in the world and expect to begin operation in the next few years.

Poet’s Emmetsburg, Iowa, plant is slated for operation in 2012, capable of producing 25 million gallons from corncobs and high-cut material, according to Adam Wirt, Poet’s technology development specialist, who discussed the project at the Energy & Environmental Research Center’s Biomass ’10: Renewable Power, Fuels, and Chemicals Workshop July 20 and 21 in Grand Forks, N.D. “Our goal is to build the first in the world,” he told attendees. “We’ve heard a lot of companies say that.” Poet has worked with equipment manufacturers to establish collection methods for the feedstock and has identified 600 area farmers to contribute. 

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