In Iowa, the phrase “a double-edged sword” describes something that is beneficial in some ways but problematic in others. One example is removing maize stover (the husks, stems and leaves of corn plants) from fields. Maize stover is used to make cellulosic ethanol, a renewable biofuel. And renewable biofuels are beneficial to the environment. However, […]
In Iowa, DuPont is working with Nevada city authorities and Underwriters Laboratories to find ways to better put out corn stover fires to help reduce losses like DuPont suffered this summer when lightning strikes set their stover storage ablaze. Lab tests will soon be underway with a foam extinguishing agent to see how it works […]
In Canada, Cellulosic Sugar Producers Cooperative has initiated an equity campaign to develop a corn stover and wheat straw to dextrose supply chain in southwestern Ontario. CSPC will engage with growers in the region to supply corn stover and wheat straw to a planned dextrose facility previously announced by Comet Biorefining to be located in […]
In Iowa, a second lightning strike has hit the stover storage piles at DuPont’s Nevada cellulosic ethanol plant, this time impacting about 10,000 tons of feedstock. The fire earlier this month destroyed at least 10,000 bales of stover as well. Despite the summer storms wreaking havoc on outside storage, the company says the damage is […]
In Iowa, a lightning strike set fire to some of DuPont’s stover bale storage at its cellulosic ethanol plant in Nevada on Friday night. An estimated 10,000 bales have been burned. The facility uses an estimated 700,000 bales of stover per year at full production. As of Monday, though the fire is out it is […]
In Indiana, making biofuel from corn crop residue could become economically viable for farmers with government support and, therefore, lead to a major shift in crop rotation practices favoring more continuous corn plantings, Purdue University researchers conclude. The researchers concluded that the supply of stover-based bio-gasoline would be very limited at low levels of crude oil […]
In Iowa, some farmers are finding that supplying half of their corn stover for cellulosic ethanol production like to the DuPont plant in the town of Nevada has improved farming conditions and had a positive impact on yields. For farmers who grow back-to-back corn, there’s a lot of leftover biomass in the fields that require […]
In Iowa, farmers who are considering selling corn residue from their fields to produce cellulosic ethanol first should weigh a range of site-specific factors to their operations, according to new research from an Iowa State University agronomist. Mahdi Al-Kaisi, a professor of agronomy, is urging farmers to take a thoughtful approach that accounts for variables […]
In Iowa, Ag Ventures Alliance Cooperative (AgVA) and Cellulose Sciences International (CSI) of Wisconsin completed a financing agreement resulting in the formation of a new joint venture, Stover Ventures, LLC. Stover Ventures will commercialize CSI’s patented biomass treatment process for producing highly digestible feed products and high value specialty chemicals from agricultural residues. The process […]
In Illinois, a recent study by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne simulated a side-by-side comparison of the yields and costs of producing ethanol using miscanthus, switchgrass, and corn stover. The fast-growing energy grass miscanthus was the clear winner. Models predict that miscanthus will have higher yield and profit, particularly when grown in poor-quality […]
