POET corn oil to supply up to 60 million gallons biodiesel production annually

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.Planned expansion of corn oil production to all of POET's ethanol plants will produce enough raw material for up to 60 million gallons of biodiesel."By selling VoilPOET is now selling Voilà™ corn oil from POET Biorefining – Hudson (S.D.) into biodiesel and feed markets, and its success has prompted POET to start plans for rolling out its patent-pending production to its other plants. The rollout schedule is still being set, but the company will begin installation this year on the first plants.

POET’s specific brand of corn oil is different thanks to the low-energy BPX fermentation process (“cold-cook”), which eliminates heat from fermentation. When corn oil is captured on the back-end of that process following BPX, it is a higher-quality product with a lower amount of free fatty acids.

“The corn kernel is an amazing thing,” POET CEO Jeff Broin said. “As we continue research into more and more co-products, our ability to displace foreign oil continues to grow. By selling Voilà to biodiesel producers, we’re providing the feedstock for even more renewable fuel production.”

With corn oil removed from every bushel of corn, POET would produce more than 500 million pounds per year, which could be made into 60 million gallons of renewable fuel by biodiesel producers.

“Not only is it high-quality corn oil, it is a consistent product, which is important to biodiesel producers,” said Scott Weishaar, POET Vice President of Commercial Development. “Our customers have been very pleased with Voilà.”

Corn oil also could be used as an energy component in feed production, and along with the corn oil, POET will introduce a new branded distillers product backed by extensive research trials.

Voilà is just one of POET’s growing list of products created at its plants. In addition to ethanol, POET produces quality products for animal feed including Dakota Gold distillers dried grains. POET also captures carbon dioxide at seven of its plants for sale to beverage producers, and the company last year unveiled Inviz™, a zein product used to replace petroleum-based films and plastics. POET is not considering Voilà for food markets at this time, but it could consider it in the future. Voilà today could be used for other purposes including paint, varnish, ink, detergents and more.

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 has a production capacity of more than 1.7 billion gallons of ethanol and 9 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 and light stover as feedstock, and will commercialize the process in Emmetsburg, Iowa. For more information, visit http://www.poet.com.