Corn cobs eyed for ethanol, fertilizer

Corn cobs eyed for ethanol, fertilizer
Farmers could get cash crop if affordable equipment is available
Corn cobs like these have long been leftovers in the farming process.
Dirk Lammers / AP

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updated 5:32 p.m. ET, Fri., July 17, 2009
DES MOINES, Iowa - Two new technologies offer the promise that corn growers could turn their cobs into cash.

Cobs, the refuse left behind after harvest, are now plowed back into fields. But companies from California and South Dakota plan to start changing that by building two plants in Iowa, one to turn the material into ethanol and another to produce fertilizer.

"We're excited about it," corn farmer Jim Boyer said, "that there's an opportunity for another profit stream off our farm."

Boyer already sells much of the corn from his farm in Ringsted in northern Iowa to a traditional ethanol plant in nearby Emmetsburg. Most ethanol in the U.S. is made from corn kernels.

But a $200 million plant being built by Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Poet Energy will make cellulosic ethanol, which comes from plant material such as cobs, wood chips and switchgrass. About two dozen cellulosic ethanol projects are being developed or built around the country, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.

The projects vary by region, with companies using whatever local crop is available. Louisiana and Florida companies, for instance, are using sugar cane, while one based in Oregon plans to convert poplar trees and wood chips into ethanol.

"There isn't an ethanol producer today that isn't looking at those kinds of biomass materials that can be converted into ethanol," said Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the association.

In Iowa, it's corn, and a switch from regular to cellulosic could mean more kernels are available for human food and livestock feed.

The push for new ways to produce cellulosic ethanol comes as many ethanol makers are struggling to turn a profit. They've had to drop prices to remain competitive as gas prices have fallen, but the cost of corn used to make ethanol has remained relatively high, said David Swenson, a researcher at Iowa State University.

Some of the largest producers have declared bankruptcy or been sold.

Poet spokesman Nathan Schock said the company hasn't yet figured out how much it will pay farmers, but it could be $30 to $60 per ton for corn stover, which includes cobs and some stalk. An average acre in Iowa yields about 1.5 tons of corn stover.

The company's payments to farmers could be supplemented by the federal government through the Biomass Crop Assistance Program.

Poet's plant in Emmetsburg, about 120 miles northwest of Des Moines, is expected to produce about 25 million gallons of ethanol per year when it opens in 2011. It could generate as much as $10 million per year in extra income for farmers.

Fertilizer plant to be a first

Meanwhile, San Francisco-based SynGest, Inc., plans to build an $80 million facility in Menlo, about 40 miles west of Des Moines, that will be the first to make ammonia fertilizer from corn cobs.

The plant, expected to be completed by fall 2011, will process 130,000 tons of cobs per year into 50,000 tons of fertilizer, or enough for 100,000 acres of corn, SynGest CEO Jack Oswald said. Farmers would get about $50 per ton of cobs.

The company plans to market ammonia fertilizer to nearby farms as alternative to nitrogen fertilizer, which is made from oil. More than half the nation's supply of nitrogen fertilizer is imported, which drives up the price to farmers, Oswald said.

"There's a lot of reasons why this is a smart and valuable thing to do," he said. "This is a huge industry opportunity."

Poet expects $100 million in federal and state aid to build its plant, while SynGest has applied for $40 million in federal aid and additional state help.

Collecting cobs could be costly
Farmers said they'd like to trade their trash for cash, but most lack equipment to easily scoop up cobs. Prototypes for such machines are being built, but they could cost more than the cobs bring in. Boyer said a lot of questions remain.

"If we have another stream of product coming off the field, is it going to take more equipment?" he asked. "Is it going to take more manpower? Are we going to have to store those cobs ourselves or are we going to be able to deliver them to the plant, or is the plant going to come pick them up?"

Clark Bredahl, who raises corn, soybeans and cattle 320 acres near Greenfield, also said he'd need to figure out whether selling his cobs made economic sense.

"If the company is willing to pay enough so that it becomes feasible for farmers to collect the cobs and deliver them to their plant, then that definitely has some promise," he said. "But we don't know what those details will be yet."

Herald story- page 1

COVER STORY
Biomass to the rescue?
•Interview with executive director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Stephen Smith
By JOHN DORSCHNER
dorschner@MiamiHerald.com
for Biomass Gas & Electric, which has deals
to build three plants in Florida

Nobody loves biomass. When talk turns to global warming and the green movement, it's hardly ever mentioned. Biomass can be garbage (literally) or wood chips or sugar-cane remnants or grass.

Still, among energy experts, biomass has some strong supporters, and for good reason: Right now, virtually all the renewable-energy power in Florida comes from biomass, including three plants in Miami-Dade and Broward.

What's more, it's cheap -- cheaper in some instances even than coal, which is generally considered the nation's least expensive way of producing electricity but is also the biggest producer of greenhouse gases that scientists say are heating up the globe.

''We're very strong supporters of biomass,'' says Stephen Smith, head of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. ''In the short run, it will be a real workhorse.'' But he adds: ``There are various shades of green in biomass. Some is better than others.''

As policymakers search for alternatives to fossil fuels that threaten to submerge South Florida under the sea, biomass has emerged as a leading possibility, much more plausible than wind in the state, but it comes with strong pluses and minuses.

Big business has gotten involved. Leading biomass producers -- including the multimillionaire Fanjul family with an electric plant burning sugar-cane leftovers -- have joined the push to require utilities to use more renewables and pay proper rates for them, which would mean the businesses could get decent revenue by expanding operations.

Still, many have concerns. ''Not all biomass is created equal,'' says Gerald Karnas of the Environmental Defense Fund.

Some environmentalists believe garbage is not as green as, say, wood chips. Others worry that arundo donax, a towering grass proposed by some as a biomass fuel, might spread unintentionally to many areas, including the Everglades, as have other non-native plants.

What's more, major companies in North Florida that use wood products are concerned that state subsidies for renewable energy could drive up the prices of timber that are used for everything from paper to fat-free ice cream.

Even so, research prepared for the Public Service Commission is showing that biomass and solar are the two top practical renewables in Florida.

''The bottom line is that Florida is well positioned for growth in biomass,'' says Sean Stafford, a lobbyist for Florida Crystals, the Fanjul company. He points out that biomass does not have the ''volatile price structure'' associated with natural gas, the No. 1 energy source of Florida Power & Light.

What follows is a primer on biomass.

ITS QUALITIES:

CARBON NEUTRAL?

Some biomass -- sugar-cane waste, wood chips -- is generally considered carbon neutral. As cane and trees grow, they soak up carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas. That gas is released when the biomass is burned, meaning they produce energy without contributing to climate change.

Garbage is another story. ''In Florida, biomass has a a very broad definition, according to the state legislature,'' says Karnas. ``In some states, power from municipal solid waste wouldn't be considered a renewable.''

The reason: Experts dispute how carbon neutral garbage is. ''It depends what's in it,'' says Smith of the Southern Alliance. ``If it's mostly yard clippings and paper, that could mean very little carbon. If there's a lot of plastic, that's made by a fossil fuel, meaning it's releasing quite a bit of carbon.''