The first commercial biomass harvest will take place this fall near Emmetsburg in northwest Iowa. The corncobs and light stover harvest by 85 farmers is part of Poet LLC's cellulosic ethanol initiative called Project Liberty. 

Poet, a leading ethanol manufacturer, already has a 55 million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant at Emmetsburg producing ethanol from corn grain. The company is scheduled to start construction in 2011 on a facility next door that will make cellulosic ethanol from cobs, husks and some of the leaves of corn plants.

The biomass will be collected this fall for the first time by 85 farmers in the area around Emmetsburg. It's a commercial harvest, the farmers will be paid for the bales they harvest and deliver. But this is also a test to see how the system for harvesting, handling and storing biomass will work. Poet plans to start producing ethanol from the cob-stover bales when the new plant opens, which is set for 2012 if construction stays on schedule. Poet has a 22-acre outdoor storage facility for bales at the Emmetsburg site.

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