Today we got the chance to go to an ethanol plant. Now in Iowa we have heard a lot about ethanol because almost 40% of all the corn grown in the state is turned into ethanol. Ethanol became a huge industry in Iowa after the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) came into effect, and it mandated that a certain number of gallons of ethanol has to be blended into the fuel supply by 2022. This requirement has made ethanol a huge industry, and we got to go a POET ethanol plant. POET is currently the largest ethanol producer in the US and produces almost 50% of all the ethanol in the US.

When we got to the plant we were given a presentation about ethanol. We learned how the corn is ground, then fermented, distilled, dewatered, and finials denatured and shipped out. The whole process is essentially the same as producing producing whiskey, minus the barrel aging and there are a few added steps to make it not safe for human consumption. Now the next movement in ethanol production is cellulosic ethanol. This is ethanol that is made from corn stalks and cobs instead of the traditional corn kernel. This would allow companies to use different sources for ethanol, and it would also help meet the requirements for production set by the RFS. The presentation then went on to dispel some common rumors about ethanol, and how it is fine for car engines and there is no risk of it causing damage in your car. After the presentation we downed safety hats and then got a walking tour of the plant. We got to see all of the processes, and I will say that it was a lot easier then I thought it would be. With all the technology today the whole plant can be run by only 2 operators and 3 engineers from the central control room.

The ethanol plant really hit home a few points about the corn industry. The first is that everything is about the price per bushel. The ethanol plants want it to be cheap and the growers want it to be high, and there is this struggle between both of them. The other is that corn is used in everything. Obviously corn is used to make the ethanol, but then the by products from the process are sold as cattle feed. This just shows a little bit of how complex the chain of selling corn is. The final thing is that innovation drives corn. We saw that technology was changing the way that farmers do almost everything from picking the seed, to planting it, and finally harvesting it. In the ethanol plant they are constantly updating and changing out parts of the process to make it more efficient. The tour really showed how intertwined the ethanol industry is in Iowa.