• Partnership announced today at the America’s Grasslands Conference, between POET of Sioux Falls, S.D., the country’s largest ethanol producer (www.poet.com), and The Earth Partners, a world-wide leader in land and ecosystem restoration (www.theearthpartners.com)
• Partnership goal is to develop Conservation Biomass, which is a bioenergy feedstock sustainably harvested as part of a plan to restore degraded and marginal lands the Upper Midwest
• First project will supply Conservation Biomass to the solid fuel boiler of POET’s 100 million gallon per year grain ethanol plant in Chancellor, S.D.

Developing a sustainable supply of biomass that helps restore degraded land is the goal of a new partnership between POET and The Earth Partners. Dubbed Conservation Biomass, it will initially be used for heat and power generation and eventually liquid fuel production.

The Earth Partners and POET each bring a specific expertise necessary for the development of Conservation Biomass. As part of their ongoing ecological restoration work, The Earth Partners will work with farmers and conservation property landowners to grow and sustainably harvest biomass from land with invasive vegetation or land where restorative plant species are grown. POET will then evaluate the best use of the biomass to generate heat, power or for liquid fuel production.

The initial project will deliver Conservation Biomass to POET Biorefining – Chancellor, a 100 million-gallon-per-year grain ethanol plant in Chancellor, S.D. that burns wood waste and landfill gas in a solid fuel boiler to generate all of its process steam. Burning biomass at the plant to generate power will allow the partnership to test the commercial viability of the Conservation Biomass business model at scale. POET and The Earth Partners will continue to research the potential for utilizing Conservation Biomass sources like prairie grasses for cellulosic ethanol production.

The Earth Partners will validate that the Conservation Biomass is:
• Sourced from degraded or marginal lands facing flood risk, erosion challenges, decreasing fertility, or other environmental issues
• Carbon-neutral
• Part of a documented ecological plan for the source land
Co-benefits include:
• Improved water quality and flood damage control
• Improved wildlife habitat
• Reduced land management/operational costs

POET Vice President of Commercial Development Scott Weishaar said POET sees great potential in Conservation Biomass. “With Conservation Biomass, we are showing the compatibility of bioenergy production and sustainable land management,” Weishaar said. “This has the potential to simultaneously create a significant new revenue stream for conservation lands and large quantities of biomass for heat, power and liquid fuels.”

Head Scientist of The Earth Partners and Chairman of Applied Ecological Services, Steve Apfelbaum, suggests; “The prospect of conservation biomass is so very exciting, as a powerful opportunity to incent and finance the restoration of degraded soils, grasslands, wetlands, forests and agricultural landscapes, and to engage private and perhaps public lands in a renewed process of land conservation and ecosystem restoration. A program such as this can also encourage a strategic convergence between national energy, farm program, and public lands policy development and programs that all benefit from this focus on restoring healthy soils and ecosystems.”

“Conservation Biomass has the potential to generate value from marginally productive lands while simultaneously restoring ecological balance to those lands,” said Fran Swain, Senior Business Development Analyst at POET. “POET is delighted to be chosen as TEP’s partner to help make Conservation Biomass a reality.”

For more on the solid fuel boiler at POET Biorefining – Chancellor, where the Conservation Biomass will initially be used, visit our website. For photos, see Flickr.

About POET
POET, the largest ethanol producer in the world, is a leader in biorefining through its efficient, vertically integrated approach to production. The 23-year-old company produces more than 1.7 billion gallons of ethanol and 10 billion pounds of high-protein animal feed annually from 27 production facilities nationwide. POET also operates a pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol plant, which uses corn cobs, leaves, husk and some stalk as feedstock, and will commercialize the process in Emmetsburg, Iowa. For more information, visit http://www.poet.com.

About The Earth Partners
The Earth Partners (TEP) is a partnership of finance professionals, project developers, ecosystem restoration and land management specialists including farmers, scientists, and engineers. TEP develops restoration solutions that can utilize bioenergy to achieve quantifiable ecosystem restoration goals through a strategic partnership with Applied Ecological Services, of Brodhead, Wisconsin, is one of the leading ecological consulting, contracting, and restoration firms in the world, and a world leader in understanding and cultivating native plants; and Brinkman & Associates, of Vancouver, Canada, is one of the largest reforestation and forest ecosystem management company’s in the world. For more information, visit http://www.theearthpartners.com.

America's Grasslands Conference

Conservation Biomass
From Rhapsody in Green

Conservation Biomass Announcement
From POET TV