CF Industries Holdings Inc. on July 15 announced a collaboration with POET LLC, the world’s largest producer of biofuel and a global leader in sustainable bioproducts, to pilot the use of low-carbon ammonia fertilizer to reduce the carbon intensity of corn production and ethanol.
As part of the agreement, the companies intend to do the first applications of low-carbon ammonia to corn crops that will be used for ethanol in the fall of 2024. Subsequent applications will be done in the spring of 2025 and the first harvest is expected in the fall of 2025.
“We are pleased to collaborate with POET on this important step forward in developing a low-carbon ethanol value chain that links low-carbon fertilizers to farmers to ethanol production,” said Bert Frost, CF’s Executive Vice President, Sales, Supply Chain and Market Development. “Fertilizers manufactured with a lower carbon intensity provide a quantifiable and certifiable method of decarbonizing bioethanol inputs. We look forward to demonstrating these benefits not just for ethanol production but for corn growers as well.”
CF and POET also intend to develop a low-carbon fertilizer supply chain to track, validate, and certify carbon intensity reduction originating from low-carbon ammonia manufacturing at CF Donaldsonville, La., complex through ethanol production at POET’s production facilities in Bingham Lake, Minn., Emmetsburg, Iowa, Fairmont, Neb., and North Manchester, Ind.
The companies said this includes implementing supply plans with fertilizer retailers serving farms that supply corn to the POET processing plants, and developing monetization opportunities for farmers who use the low-carbon fertilizer.
“At POET, we have always striven to bring new value to our producers and our partnership with CF Industries continues this mission,” said Christian McIlvain, President of POET Grain. “We want to prepare and educate our corn producers on the realities of the impact of the carbon in their grain. This initiative not only gives producers a low-carbon ammonia option but also provides the opportunity to educate them on their farm’s carbon score and what that could mean for their grain value.”
The project will initially leverage green ammonia from CF’s Donaldsonville complex, where the company recently completed the installation of a 20MW electrolyzer (GM Feb. 16, p. 1). Start-up of the electrolyzer will begin soon, and CF said it intends to purchase renewable energy certificates to pair with the green ammonia production. CF will also begin blue ammonia production in Donaldsonville beginning in 2025 as carbon capture and sequestration commences.
Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D., POET operates 34 bioprocessing facilities across eight states and employs more than 2,400 team members. The company holds more than 100 patents worldwide.