【Frontiers in HaiChuan Chemical Technology】CF Industries and POET launch pilot projects for producing ethanol from low-carbon fertilizers

Thread Content

Recently, CF Industries and POET announced a partnership to launch a pilot project in the United States to produce low-carbon ethanol using low-carbon fertilizers. This project aims to reduce the carbon intensity of corn cultivation through low-carbon fertilizers, in order to produce low-carbon ethanol. The project brings together multiple agricultural cooperatives to jointly establish a low-carbon fertilizer supply chain from production to farmers. 　　The pilot program covers states such as Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska. CF Industries produces low-carbon ammonia at its Donaldsonville plant by capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide, with an annual production capacity of 1.9 million tons, sufficient to meet the fertilizer needs of 19 to 22 million acres of corn. By the fall of 2025, the project had completed the sales and application of the first batch of low-carbon ammonia fertilizers. POET will use corn grown with these low-carbon fertilizers to produce ethanol at biofuel plants in Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska, with an expected output of 5 to 6 million gallons of ethanol with a low carbon intensity. 　　Bert Frost, President of CF Industries Commercial, stated that low-carbon fertilizers provide a quantifiable and verifiable pathway for decarbonizing the raw materials used in bioethanol production. Christian McIlvain, President of POET’s Grain Business, said that this move opens up new ways to reduce the carbon intensity of ethanol, with the potential to deliver both environmental and economic benefits. The two companies said that this project represents a deep collaboration between agricultural and energy companies within the low-carbon value chain, with the aim of promoting the sustainable development of the biofuel industry chain.