Vital Magazine - Summer 2023

Chicago Hosts First NASCAR Street Race

CHANGING THE WORLD FOR 35 YEARS

A VISION & BEYOND: SCAN TO VIEW OUR SHORT FILM THE STORY OF POET

OUR IMPACT

Vital magazine is a news and media resource managed by POET, the world’s largest producer of biofuels. Since 2008, Vital has provided readers with forward-thinking content that helps to advance an industry that provides renewable energy and bio-based products from the surface of the Earth. Vital seeks to educate readers about the state of the biofuels sector today and the breakthrough stories of innovation and sustainability of tomorrow by presenting a variety of insights and perspectives.

Each issue features in-depth, quality reporting on important topics, such as the fight against the climate crisis, innovation in agriculture, local and national policy landscapes and stories of the men and women advocating to advance bioethanol and other renewable bioproducts.

Vital by POET is committed to editorial excellence, along with high quality print production and distribution. In the spirit of its continued commitment to being good stewards of the environment, POET is proud to produce Vital using recycled paper when printed.

Additional reporting can be found online at vitalbypoet.com. The opinions and statements expressed by content contributors and advertisers in Vital are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of POET. Neither POET nor its third-party content providers shall be liable for any inaccuracies contained within Vital, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

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Vital is published quarterly by POET, LLC and other individuals or entities. All materials within are subject to copyrights owned by POET. POET, JIVE, Dakota Gold, BPX, ProPellet and other associated designs and logos are registrations or trademarks of POET, LLC. Growth Energy is a registration or trademark of Growth Energy, a non-profit corporation organized under the laws of the District of Columbia. Any reproduction of all or part of any document found in Vital is expressly prohibited, unless POET or the copyright owner of the material has expressly granted its prior written consent to so reproduce, retransmit or republish the material. All other rights reserved. For questions, contact the POET legal department at 605.965.2200.

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Contents

FEATURES

08 | From Field to Phones

Reaching consumers in the digital age with new voices

18 | Seeds of Change: Immersion Trip Transforms Lives

Connecting cultures creates lasting impact here and in Uganda

30 | Clearing the Air in the Windy City

Chicago Hosts First NASCAR Street Race

44 | Earth Day Every Day

The POET network celebrates Earth Day 2023

52 | Poetry in Motion: Moving Toward Carbon Neuatrality

Decarbonization is finding the spotlight in bioethanol value chains

COLUMNS

06 | In Sight

By Jeff Broin

28 | Farm Fresh

By Carrie Vollmer-Sanders

50 | Mechanics Corner

Automotive advice from the Under the Hood radio show

58 | Out Of Left Field

By Scott Johnson

DEPARTMENTS

16 | PAC

26 | Policy

38 | People of POET

Top: Shawn Johnson fills up with E15 before the East family road trip | Left: POET team members celebrate Earth Day Middle Right: #3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet | Bottom Right: POET team member works on immersion trip in Uganda

Fueling Change with E15

By Jeff Broin, Founder and CEO of POET

Whatever your beliefs are about climate change, I think we can agree that we should all do everything we can to take care of and protect the planet we live on for future generations.

Choosing higher biofuel blends allows us to do just that — and because of the emergency waiver announced in April, American consumers are free to continue fueling with E15 throughout the summer driving season.

Prior to 2019, E15 was blocked from the marketplace during the summer because of an outdated federal law limiting Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) that was drafted before E15 was even conceived. POET worked with the industry for over a decade to lift those restrictions and accomplished just that under the Trump Administration, but unfortunately, that rule was overturned in a 2021 federal court decision, limiting summertime sales of E15 once again.

Emergency waivers have been issued by the Biden Administration to keep E15 flowing for the past two summers as Americans have faced tight fuel supplies, high prices, and poor air quality — but we still need a permanent fix.

We all know that bioethanol is great for consumers, farmers, the environment, and the economy and is the most readily available solution to decarbonize the transportation sector, especially when research shows that the internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) fleet will be on the road for decades to come.

America needs low-carbon liquid fuels, and E15 is ready to answer that call. Ag-based biofuels are a common-sense solution to many pressing issues we face today:

E15 cleans the air we breathe. In fact, just last year, research by the University of California Riverside reaffirmed that E15 reduces volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter that contribute to smog formation and a slew of health issues.

E15 improves our nation’s energy independence. Increasing the amount of bioethanol in the fuel supply can help shield Americans from gasoline supply shortages and price spikes.

E15 bolsters the economy. Bioethanol production in America supports thousands of rural jobs, creates value for family farmers, and drives economic growth for our nation.

E15 saves consumers money. Based on average reported gas prices in June, drivers saved 14 cents per gallon with E15 compared to E10.

POET’s goal is to make E15 America’s standard fuel. Maintaining E15 access year-round is critical to growing markets nationwide, and as always, we will continue to work diligently alongside our political allies to fight for fuel freedom.

And as more stations offer E15 and more consumers burn cleaner fuel, we’ll continue to see that making one small change at the pump has the potential to make a lasting change for the planet.

From Fields to Phones

Reaching consumers in the digital age with new voices

By Makenzie Huber

James Pieper grew up in a suburb of Fargo, but his heart was on a farm in south-central Minnesota.

That farm belonged to his grandparents and his greatgrandparents before them. It’s where his grandfather spent his days working in the field and where his grandmother juggled fieldwork on top of her nursing career and raising three children.

While his hands itched to work with the soil as a child, Pieper didn’t know if he could turn it into a career.

His grandparents retired when he was a middle schooler and rented out their land while still living on the farm. To fulfill his childhood dream of becoming a farmer himself, he’d have to start over, buy his own equipment, and teach himself the ropes.

But he learned by watching young, first-generation farmers on YouTube that it was possible to return to his roots, absorbing their lessons, successes, and failures.

Now, he’s a 25-year-old skipped-generation farmer living on his grandparents’ land with his wife. He’s spent the last three years learning the ropes while juggling a fulltime job in agricultural finance, even using vacation time to work on the farm.

As he puts it, he “eats, sleeps, and breathes farming.” But he might not have made that leap of faith if it weren’t for social media and the YouTube creators who inspired him.

Left: James Pieper and his wife, Sarita, work on their family farm

He’s passing that mission of education on through his own growing social media accounts on Instagram and TikTok. His Instagram account, “@allaboutfarming,” has over 54,000 followers who watch as he highlights his life on the farm — following along with his experiments and everyday chores, asking and answering questions, and sharing encouragement alongside beautiful aerial shots of his fields with a drone.

Overall, he’s building a community of people interested in and learning about agriculture.

“There are a lot of people like me who had land in the family, and then it gets rented out,” Pieper said. “They’d love to step into farming but feel like it’s out of reach. It really isn’t if you know how to ask the right questions and take the risk.”

Pieper estimates that about a quarter of his followers are farmers, another quarter is made up of farmhands, and the remaining 50 percent are non-farmers who follow him to learn about his experience.

Consumers are becoming more and more removed from agriculture, with many unaware of the process of turning a cow into a hamburger or turning corn into fuel. That gap will continue to grow, and it’s important to educate the typical consumer. Social media is the best tool to do that, Pieper said.

“Voters and representatives make decisions. When you don’t have the numbers in agriculture to represent yourself in the government, there’s a ton of value in informing other people,” Pieper said. “There’s only going to be fewer farmers as time goes, so we need to educate others.”

Pieper partners with POET to share information about agriculture and biofuel production with his followers. The company works with social media influencers like Pieper because it can be a more effective way to reach large numbers of consumers than through traditional advertising, said Autumn Bates, POET Vice President of Communications.

POET’s social media goal is to build a community of like-minded people that the organization wouldn’t otherwise be able to connect with. Social media can be a great place to share ideas and solve problems that could make the world a better place.

“We don’t have consumer products on shelves, so we have to find other ways to reach people,” Bates said. “Part of what POET wants to do is build awareness of not just the company, but what we’re trying to accomplish: changing the world through biofuels and bioproducts made in harmony with the earth.”

POET has a few audience groups the company tries to reach through social media marketing and partnerships: people who want to help the environment, people interested in agriculture, and women.

Women, particularly moms, are one of the key audiences POET appeals to on social media, Bates said, because they are typically interested in efforts that benefit their families and children.

That’s exactly why Growth Energy is trying to reach moms in its latest social media campaign, said Elizabeth Funderburk, Vice President of Communications & Public Affairs for Growth Energy, the nation's leading biofuel trade association.

Growth Energy’s latest campaign is The Green American Road Trip, which promotes the cost-effectiveness and environmental benefits of using biofuels. The campaign is centered on the East family — American Olympic gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson, her husband, former NFL football long snapper Andrew East, and their two children.

Fans of the family vote on where they should travel this summer through The Green American Road Trip website, which also shares tips for more environmentally friendly driving. The East family then documents their journey on social media to their more than 5 million combined followers.

Partnering with relevant influencers, such as the East family or Pieper, is an effective strategy for entities like POET and Growth Energy because their followers take recommendations to heart, Funderburk said. The influencers and their followers share similar values and form a bond and sense of trust that isn’t possible through a company account or traditional marketing.

“If you see yourself like Shawn Johnson, a mom of two small children, and you see she’s getting on the road and taking a moment to think about ways to lower her carbon footprint and clean the air her family breathes,” Funderburk said.

That partnership with influencers not only spreads awareness about the benefits of biofuels but also connects consumers at the pump and beyond.

“We need more consumers who have awareness and who are not only converting that awareness to action at the pump but also contribute to actions at the federal and state level that contribute to growing access to biofuel blends,” Funderburk said.

Influencer partnerships and social media are also opportunities to listen to consumers and understand what is important to them, Bates said. It allows POET to better shape its messaging to spread its mission to others.

And while social media can seem like an infinite void of content, Bates recommends cutting through the noise by focusing on a personal mission at hand.

Shawn Johnson and her husband, Andrew East, take their family on The Green American Road Trip

“POET’s founder, Jeff Broin, knew exactly what our mission was when he built this company long before the age of social media, and so we take those lessons and say, ‘This is who we are,’” Bates said. “We can use that message to hone our communications strategy — and that includes social media.”

Pieper said he only partners with companies that share his mission or values or produce a product he uses and believes in.

He added that it’s manageable for anyone to use social media for a similar educational mission. Pieper can gather enough content for a week of posting in one day, he said.

“I spend more time thinking about it than actually putting stuff together,” Pieper said.

And authenticity reigns supreme on social media. Simply following, engaging with, and sharing information from publications like Vital makes a difference by reaching and educating more people across the country, Bates said.

Pieper encourages farmers to look at social media as an opportunity and to experiment with using it, adding that “you don’t need a bunch of followers to see the value of it.”

“It’s not going away,” Pieper said. “It’s a way to get your voice out there without getting totally filtered by someone else and hear from others without them getting filtered either.”

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Your Dollars at Work

POET PAC is a Federal Political Action Committee (PAC) formed to promote and facilitate fundraising contributions to support candidates who are committed to being champions for America’s biofuel and agricultural industries. POET PAC does this by collecting voluntary contributions from individuals committed to supporting pro-biofuels candidates and advancing pro-biofuel policies in Washington, D.C.

Using these contributions, POET PAC supports champions who are on the frontlines of our most difficult battles while our biggest competitors invest millions in undermining our success. PAC dollars are strategically used to:

• Keep U.S. Senate and House seats in the hands of pro-biofuel and pro-agricultural lawmakers

• Counter the influence of anti-biofuel candidates and special interest groups

• Provide powerful, focused advocacy during critical discussions that impact the future of biofuels and rural America

Biofuels have come a long way over the past few decades due in large part to the support of POET PAC members. Progress has taken tremendous effort, time, and funding, but it’s paying off, and the work is far from over.

We know that biofuels transform our world for the better. We also know that biofuels and bioproducts are the best solutions to release the hold fossil fuels have on our world. The battle to protect family farms, rural jobs, the economy, and the environment is waged every day within our nation’s capital.

You can play a pivotal role in winning that battle.

HOW DO I JOIN?

Ready to join the thousands of members who are already making their voices heard? Visit www. poetpac.com or email poetpac@poet.com to join POET PAC today!

Contributions to POET PAC are not tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes. Contributions to POET PAC will be used in connection with federal elections and are subject to the limits and prohibitions of federal law. The maximum an individual may contribute to POET PAC is $5,000 per year ($10,000 per couple). Corporate and foreign national contributions are not permitted under federal law. Please make checks payable to POET PAC. Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to obtain and report the name, mailing address, occupation and name of employer for each individual whose contributions aggregate in excess of $200 per calendar year. Your contribution to POET PAC is strictly voluntary.

PAID FOR BY POET PAC

Top: POET team members in Uganda on Seeds of Change mission trip

Bottom: Rod Pierson, POET team member, speaks with local farmers.

Seeds of Change: Immersion Trip Transforms Lives

Connecting cultures creates lasting impact in Uganda and at home

By Janna Farley

Never underestimate the difference one person can make. Now multiply that by 18.

The effect a group can have? It’s immeasurable.

And that’s exactly what was so powerful about the 2023 Seeds of Change immersion trip to Uganda – the organization’s first since 2019.

“It’s an experience that you will never forget,” said Lauren Colvin, Seeds of Change Director of Development. “It tugs at your heart and changes you in a positive way – you just view things a lot differently.”

But more importantly, it serves as an important instrument to create a lasting impact, which is precisely what Jeff Broin envisioned more than ten years ago.

An Idea Takes Growth

In 2012, Jeff Broin, founder and CEO of POET, and his family traveled to Kenya for a service trip. While assisting in a remodel for Kakuswi School for the Deaf in the village of Tawa, Broin couldn’t help but notice the condition of the crops on the small family farms that dotted the rural area they were visiting.

After returning home, Broin couldn’t stop thinking about it. A few simple changes to their farming techniques could yield big results. But how could they support these farmers half a world away?

Realizing the impact they could have, Broin and his wife, Tammie, founded Seeds of Change, a nonprofit organization, which operates out of POET’s corporate office. Seeds of Change strives to transform lives through the power of education and the miracle of agriculture.

Since then, the organization has impacted millions of lives through its three-key areas of focus: Mission Hope, Mission Grow, and Mission Thrive.

Each program has a slightly different approaches: Mission Hope supports youth and educational initiatives, Mission Grow is centered on agriculture and food security, and Mission Thrive focuses on human health and the environment. Overall, each is grounded in the transformative power of education.

“We work to create an environment for the empowerment and encouragement of poverty-stricken people to cultivate their own paths to success,” said Macy Kaiser, Seeds of Change Executive Director.

Since 2013, Seeds of Change has sent a volunteer group of POET team and family members on an annual immersion trip to Kenya. Each group has focused on building relationships with and working alongside locals, often working hands-on to complete a variety of capital projects. The trips serve as a rare opportunity to get a firsthand look at what Seeds of Change is doing to implement sustainable, practical solutions that transform livelihoods.

But, like most international travel, the trips came to a standstill in 2020.

Of course, that’s not to say the work stopped. During that time, Seeds of Change worked with its boots-on-the-ground partners in Africa to complete, among other projects, the construction of two primary schools in Uganda and one vocational school at Kakuswi. Mission Hope also sponsored more than 1,800 students in Kenya and Uganda last year and launched a feeding program to support more than 52,000 students across 166 schools in one of Kenya’s most impoverished areas.

Additionally, Mission Grow has expanded to impact over 4 million individuals across Africa by working alongside farmers to make simple changes to their operations, often increasing yields tenfold in one growing season. Many who were unable to produce enough to feed their families are now able to turn a profit, enabling them to reinvest in their farms and pay their children’s school fees. This wasn’t possible prior to 2014.

Mission Thrive has also impacted hundreds of thousands of lives across six countries through medical clinics and village healthcare projects, and the initiative has recently invested in clean water wells that will benefit tens of thousands of individuals suffering from the effects of drought. The project has also helped distribute thousands of clean-burning bioethanol cookstoves to help reduce the widespread harmful impacts of cooking with hard fuels.

POET team members and families on Seeds of Change mission trip in Uganda

Creating Sustainable Change

Even for the most passionate Seeds of Change supporters, nothing compares to the opportunity to contribute to the mission in person and see the projects firsthand. This year, that experience could finally resume, and 14 POET team members, in addition to four of their family members, traveled to Uganda for the first post-COVID immersion trip.

“A lot of the projects we do tend to focus on one area or another, but our work in Uganda really encompasses all three of the core programs we support,” Kaiser said. “This year, we were on the farms working with the farmers. It was harvest season, so we got to help with that. We were in the schools working with the kids. We were in the medical clinics and going on house visits with families. We really go to touch on so many aspects of the community.”

Days started early – around 7 in the morning – and they didn’t end until around 9 or 10 at night — exhausting and exhilarating all at once.

“During the trip, we learned about all the things Seeds of Change has done for the community and learned about the different ways it’s growing and prospering, from the hair salon and bakery that are providing jobs to the clinic that provides 24-hour healthcare services,” said POET team member Nichole Holbrook. “We visited local farms. One group went to a banana plantation, another group went to a peanut farm. It was incredible to see all of the amazing things Seeds of Change has done. The farmers showed us their traditional

Ugandan crops compared to the Mission Grow crops, and the difference was astonishing!”

According to Andrew DeVaney, Founder and CEO of AsOne Ministries, another Sioux Fallsbased organization that partners with Seeds of Change on a number of projects and in hosting this year’s trip, the work done during immersion trips is transformative to the people served. For example, over the course of 10 days, the group worked with dozens of farmers and touched the lives of hundreds of community members.

But it’s not really about the numbers.

“We measure the impact of the trips more qualitatively than quantitatively,” DeVaney said. “The people of Uganda have such deep, deep gratitude for the people who want to come and travel halfway across the world to places they’ve never heard of. It’s the relationships that are developed that have the biggest impact.”

And that impact works both ways. When a POET team member has the opportunity to work side-by-side with a smallholder Ugandan farmer, play soccer with kids at a local school, or have a simple conversation with a local, bonds are formed. Many realize that, despite coming from vastly different backgrounds and cultures, we’re all much more alike than we might expect.

“The connections that are made are lifelong,” said DeVaney.

Continuing the Mission

Supporting the mission of Seeds of Change is an extension of POET’s commitment to innovating powerful, practical solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

To that end, the company encourages participation in the trip by providing a stipend toward travel expenses and an extra two paid days off for each POET team member – but it’s certainly not an all-expense-paid vacation. Participants work in groups and individually to fundraise in the months leading up to each trip. Still, interest in Seeds of Change comes from all departments and locations.

“We all have different backgrounds and come from different departments. A lot of us wouldn’t have met otherwise,” Colvin said. “So, this trip brings a lot of personalities and people together, which is really neat. Experiencing something like this together bonds you for life.”

But even better than the connections with their colleagues is the connections made with the people they meet in Africa. “A lot of the participants who have been on previous trips still stay in contact with a lot of those people that they helped to affect their lives,” Kaiser said.

All because one person – or in this case, 18 people – decided to step outside their comfort zones to experience something greater than themselves.

“This trip, and Seeds of Change, is all about making sustainable change and making an impact on future generations,” Colvin said. “I’ve never experienced anything like this before. It’s such a great opportunity to do something that’s going to have a long-lasting effect on everyone involved.”o affect their lives,” Kaiser said.

All because one person — or in this case, 18 people — decided to step outside their comfort zones to experience something greater than themselves.

“This trip, and Seeds of Change, is all about making sustainable change and making an impact on future generations,” Colvin said. “I’ve never experienced anything like this before. It’s such a great opportunity to do something that’s going to have a long-lasting effect on everyone involved.”

Year-Round E15: A Battle on Multiple Fronts

By Matt Ward, POET Government Affairs Manager

Governors Opt-Out

Access to year-round E15 is a common-sense solution to secure American energy independence, decarbonize transportation, and save drivers money.

Last year, a bipartisan group of Midwestern governors stood for common sense, exercising their authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA) to provide “relief, flexibility and certainty” in the fuel market by formally requesting that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allow their states to opt out of the one psi waiver for Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP). This action ensures regulatory parity for E10 and E15 and allows year-round access to E15 for their states.

The waiver request was made to ensure uninterrupted E15 access for drivers in these states starting in 2023. However, the request was met with delay as oil and refining interests lobbied to stall implementation. But after nearly a year, and well beyond the deadline to respond to the governors’ request, the EPA proposed a rule allowing these states to opt out beginning June 1, 2024.

Despite the delay, the EPA’s rule marks a significant advancement in the fight for nationwide access to year-round E15. POET thanks Governors Mike DeWine (R-OH), Tony Evers (D-WI), Kristi Noem (R-SD), Kim Reynolds (R-IA), Jim Pillen (R-NE), Tim Walz (D-MN), Mike Parson (R-MO) and then-Governor, now Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) for their leadership.

Eight Down, 42 To Go…

The opt-out rule going into effect in 2024 sparked a renewed call for an emergency waiver for E15 in 2023. Without EPA action, consumers faced losing the lowest cost option at the pump during the busiest driving season of the year. POET, alongside our industry allies and champions, renewed calls for the EPA to approve an emergency waiver for the summer driving season.

On Friday, April 28, President Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Michael Regan, granted an emergency waiver for summer 2023 sales of E15.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to protecting Americans from fuel supply challenges resulting from the ongoing war in Ukraine by ensuring consumers have more choices at the pump,” said Administrator Regan. “Allowing E15 sales during the summer driving season will not only help increase fuel supply, but support American farmers, strengthen U.S. energy security, and provide relief to drivers across the country.”

POET thanks President Biden, EPA Administrator Regan, and House and Senate biofuels champions for ensuring drivers can continue to access cleaner, affordable E15 this summer.

Concurrently, our champions on Capitol Hill have been bringing pressure to bear on the Biden Administration and in Congress for a permanent solution for year-round E15. In February, a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers led by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) sent a letter to the Biden Administration supporting the governors’ opt-out.

In March, the Consumer and Retailer Fuel Choice Act was reintroduced with bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. This proposed legislation would amend the Clean Air Act to provide a permanent RVP fix allowing for the uninterrupted, nationwide sale of E15 and higher blends of biofuels.

The bill was reintroduced in the Senate by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Deb Fischer (R-NE) and in the House by Reps. Adrian Smith (R-NE), Angie Craig (D-MN), and Dusty Johnson (R-SD).

“By ensuring consumers can access E15 gasoline throughout the year, our bipartisan legislation will benefit our economy, decrease prices at the pump, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” said Sen. Klobuchar.

“Consumers need year-round, nationwide E15 — and they need it now — and I thank my colleagues in the House and Senate for partnering with me on this important bill,” said Rep. Smith.

Endorsed by many, including the American Petroleum Institute, momentum continues to grow towards a permanent solution for year-round E15.

We thank our bipartisan champions in the House and Senate for their tireless leadership and support for biofuels. POET looks forward to the work ahead to guarantee affordable, available, American-made E15 from coast to coast.

The SuperPowers of Plants to Fight Climate Change

By Carrie Vollmer-Sanders, USFRA Sustainability Director

With a changing climate, the agriculture industry is enduring extreme weather events more than ever — and farmers and producers are on the frontlines.

They are adapting, building on the industry’s culture of continuous improvement, and providing eco-solutions. But farmers and ranchers need a seat at the table to help solve this global problem. That is why leaders from across the food and agriculture sector came together to form the Decade of Ag movement — a first-of-its-kind, collaborative effort for the industry to fight climate change with nature-based solutions.

Today, more than 160 U.S. farmers and ranchers, individual leaders, industry organizations, and businesses like POET have signed on to this bold movement to build a new future for food and agriculture by 2030. They are committed to action, day in and day out, because they know this sector is critical to solving this problem now. Agriculture is on a path to cut its carbon footprint in half using best practices and existing technologies. With innovation and investment, projections show it could be net negative.

While there are many ideas for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the one way to meet sustainable goals with urgency is through our land. Plants eat carbon for lunch, literally. If we mean business about reducing carbon emissions, we need to fully unleash the power of plants. When we make use of the bioproducts coming from our farms, we are harvesting the sun, storing its energy, and then using it as fuel. Think of it as “solar energy” in your gas tank. While we hear debates over renewable electricity versus fuels to power transportation, the reality is that we need both for decarbonization, and plants and renewable biofuels are powerful tools to reduce GHGs in our air.

Imagine if we double-downed on nature-based solutions and truly leveraged all we could in our sector. We could sustainably nourish more people and improve our quality of life — providing abundant food, fiber, and renewable bio-based products to help the world make critical progress on the United Nation’s sustainability goals. At the same time, the bioeconomy would foster economic resiliency among agricultural communities across America and provide environmental benefits that extend far beyond their borders.

We have the science, the technology, and the people to transition to a net-zero GHG economy, with agriculture playing a key role. Too often, that story of innovation and good disruption gets lost at a time of urgency to implement decarbonization solutions. We need a decade of action because no other sector can solve climate change like agriculture. It will require collaboration across the entire value chain to raise awareness that drives investment and changes to reach these goals. As the secretariat for the Decade of Ag, USFRA invites you to join us in this movement.

U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action (USFRA) is a farmer-led 501(c)(3) comprising 30+ organizations, representing more than 700,000 farmers, ranchers, and leading brands that are collaborating to advance meaningful action and results in the co-creation of solutions for sustainable food production, climate change, and economic sustainability.

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What’s more, sustainability and environmental conservation are key in each and every process we develop. That’s why our commitment to provide the separating technology required to produce renewable biofuels and agricultural co-products is as strong as ever. To learn more about GEA’s centrifuges and separation equipment and the industries we serve, visit us online at gea.com.

Clearing the Air in the Windy City

Chicago Hosts First NASCAR Street Race

By Ryan Welsh, Growth Energy Director of Sales and Marketing

The rolling thunder of racecars was drowned out only by the deafening roar of NASCAR fans and a deluge of July rain pouring from the sky in downtown Chicago. The rain, although not welcome by the sellout crowd, helped to clear the air from the Canadian wildfire smoke that had hovered over the city for days.

This was the first-ever Chicago Street Race, with road-course rules, and with all the commotion that had accompanied NASCAR’s arrival in the Windy City, it wasn’t about to be restricted by a little rain. Each team brought multiple sets of rain tires, and every car was equipped with windshield wipers and tail lights in anticipation of unpredictable weather.

Rain or shine, the race would go on, and the day was set up to be a memorable one.

Long before the thick Canadian haze blanketed much of the U.S. throughout the summer, Chicago had experienced unhealthy air pollution, dating back to the city’s industrialization in the late nineteenth century. The culprit was dirty coal sourced from southern Illinois, used to heat buildings, run motor engines, and power steel mills. For many years the city was shrouded in a dense, toxic cloud, increasing instances of pneumonia, asthma, and heart and lung disease in its citizens. The continued urbanization of the city and its dependence on motor vehicles have plagued its air ever since.

Now contrary to popular belief, Chicago is not nicknamed the “Windy City” because of the brisk gales rolling off Lake Michigan into town. The term is actually derived from the heated political environment that is as much a staple of Chicago as Michigan Avenue, as political hot air regarding social policy made the city a bureaucratic hotbed.

And pollution has always been a part of the conversation, ranging from early factory emission regulations in the 1880s to the ongoing debate discussing transportation and environmental policies, emissions standards, and sustainable practices today — all of which can stand to benefit from biofuel.

E15 first met Chicago politics in 2014 when many of the Windy City’s alderman proposed mandating the biofuel blend at all city gas stations to clear the air and lower gas prices. But, not surprisingly, deep pockets and politics put that common sense on hold. Today, however, widespread E15 is becoming a reality, with drivers across the country proving we can get past political games for a solution that works.

On July 2, E15 was in the Chicago spotlight once again as NASCAR took to the streets, showcasing how bioethanol can improve engine performance while reducing emissions as it powered every car on the urban track. In fact, using E15 has helped NASCAR reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent since its adoption in 2011.

The #3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet team raced their hearts out, vying for the lead late in the race, but a miscue meant clipping the wall and ending our day in turn 12. It was a wreck-filled race from the beginning, highlighting the difficulty of maneuvering a heavy stock car through a street course.

Overall, the NASCAR Chicago Street Race provided fans with thrilling moments, intense battles, and surprising outcomes. It was truly a memorable occasion for drivers and spectators alike; in fact, the television ratings were through the roof, making it the number-one viewed sport of the weekend.

And because there had been concerns in the days leading up to the race about the impact of 40 racecars on the city’s air quality (it had been dubbed the worst in the world three days prior due to the wildfire smoke), the street race became an unprecedented opportunity to discuss the benefits of bioethanol at the intersection of city dwellers and race fans.

Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet, is a true biofuel believer as he puts the fuel to the test week in and week out. “I trust clean Sunoco Green E15 to deliver the best engine performance and durability,” said Dillion. “Plantbased bioethanol cleans the air, makes a positive impact on our planet and the air we breathe, and delivers performance benefits on the track. Whether I’m racing down the streets of Chicago or the high banks of Daytona, I know I can rely on engine-smart bioethanol fuel, and so can everyday drivers all over the country.”

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Rollins Rises Through the Ranks

Showing respect and celebrating success is essential to team-building

By Sue Retka Schill

Aaron Rollins could be a spokesperson for POET’s management recruitment campaign, promoting talent through the ranks.

Now Plant Manager at POET Bioprocessing – Marion (Ohio), Aaron got his start at POET Bioprocessing – North Manchester (Indiana) 15 years ago as a plant technician. He was promoted to shift supervisor, then moved to Leipsic for five years, where he was operations supervisor and then operations manager. For the past five years, Rollins has served in his current role at POET – Marion. Along the way, he raised four kids and earned a college degree with the help of POET’s tuition reimbursement program.

“I don’t view my work at POET as something difficult. I really enjoy what we do,” Rollins said. “I get excited about coming to work and solving problems. School wasn’t hard for me to do because I was focused on where I wanted to take my career, and I knew that the thing that would hold me back was not having a degree. So I went after it.”

Rollins started working for POET in 2008 when construction on the North Manchester facility was nearing completion. He was in his late 20s, soon to be married, and needed a job with better stability and benefits. “I heard the general manager of the facility on the radio talking about hiring for a new state-of-the-art facility. Being interested in electronics, I thought it sounded intriguing. I applied and became a plant technician, getting involved in the commissioning activities.”

“It was pretty eye-opening,” he said. “None of us, other than the general manager, had ever worked in a bioethanol plant. There were 40 of us who had no idea what we were getting into. There was a lot of great training. The startup process POET put together was phenomenal.”

Plant technicians like Rollins started out working as a team in shifts, keeping the process running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Duties included setting new fermentations, sampling, monitoring the computerized control systems, making small adjustments to optimize the process, and housekeeping, among other things.

Before long, Rollins moved up to shift supervisor, leading his team of plant technicians. It was then that the general manager asked him if he had ever considered going to college. “I kind of scoffed. But he said if you just take a couple of classes every semester, it may take seven years, but you’ll have a degree. At the time, I was 29. He said, ‘Would you rather be 36 years old with a degree or without?’

Photos taken by Simply Madison Photography

For some reason, that stuck with me. I ended up graduating when I was 36.”

Rollins got his associate’s degree in industrial engineering technology at Purdue University Fort Wayne. When he moved to Leipsic, he switched to a business program with Purdue Global Online to finish his bachelor's degree.

As operations manager at POET – Leipsic, Rollins oversaw the four shift supervisors, managing day-to-day operations with the goal of maintaining consistency — an important element in optimizing operations.

He moved to Marion in 2018 when the original 65-million-gallon-per-year plant was being more than doubled in size to 150 million gallons, which essentially meant commissioning a brand-new facility. “It’s one of my favorite things to do, starting up new processes and new plants,” Rollins said, adding that he’s helped with other startups. Newly constructed systems need a lot of tweaking and troubleshooting as each part is tested individually for leaks and proper functioning until the whole is ready for startup. “That’s the fun stuff. It gets me excited and keeps me coming to work.”

Once the new systems in the expanded Marion facility were up and running, Rollins settled into his new role as plant manager. “Now I have an operations manager that works under me,” he said. He also oversees the maintenance and engineering teams as well as the material handlers who load and unload trucks and trains to receive corn and ship products. In all, about 40 of the 60-plus employees at the Marion facility work on his team.

“Aaron’s very well respected among his peers, as well as his team members,” said Regis Sherry, General Manager at POET – Marion.

“He’s built a very strong team. The whole group is dedicated to getting things done. Yet, they have fun, which is nice.”

“We do have fun,” Rollins said. “We have a COBB team — a fun play on words that stands for corn, but also ‘community outreach and buddy building.’” Everyone in the plant is invited to participate, and generally, 12 to 20 people attend the monthly potlucks, he said.

COBB is active in the Marion community of 36,000, with a big part of the outreach involving team and event sponsorships. Recently the COBB team supported downtown revitalization efforts by adopting a room for men in the homeless shelter being built and volunteering hours to do the drywall and painting.

COBB also plans fun events at the plant. “We had a National Gummy Bear Day where we brought in dirt pudding with gummy bears,” Rollins said with a chuckle. “For Valentine’s Day, all team members got a little box of chocolates. It’s a way to show our appreciation.”

Rollins appreciates not only his current team members but also those like him who are advancing. “My former operations manager is now a plant manager and a fellow plant technician from my time at North Manchester is now a commodities manager in Indiana. Seeing your team members promoted and seeing the development and growth is one of the most rewarding parts of my job in being a manager,” he said.

“If somebody else on the team succeeds, we all succeed. We should all celebrate that success. And we certainly do that here at POET. That’s one of the things I love about working here.”

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FEATURE

Earth Day Every Day

The POET network celebrates Earth Day 2023

By Erin Smith, POET Media Specialist

For 35 years, POET has lived out its mission to be good stewards of the Earth by utilizing the sun, the soil, and the seed to produce clean energy and valuable bioproducts. For the past three years, POET has hosted a companywide Earth Day volunteer event in the days surrounding the April 22 holiday, garnering participation across all of its bioprocessing facilities and its corporate offices in Sioux Falls and Wichita.

“From the beginning, sustainability and environmental stewardship have been core to our business and central tenets of our culture,” said Nathan Hay, POET Vice President of People and Culture. “Our team members work each day to benefit the Earth through low-carbon biofuels and plant-based bioproducts that are produced in sync with nature, and their passion for changing the world tends to extend far beyond just their day jobs.”

Here are the highlights of POET’s Earth Day activities:

South Dakota

POET’s corporate office in Sioux Falls hosted its third annual litter clean-up. Over 120 team members volunteered to participate, collecting trash and assisting in maintenance projects in several parks around the city.

POET – Hudson and POET Research Center in Scotland also conducted community litter clean-ups, and both hosted Earth Day coloring contests at their local elementary schools. POET – Big Stone and POET – Groton planted trees at their facilities, and POET –Chancellor invited the local FFA chapter to assist in planting ten blue spruce trees.

Kansas

At POET’s corporate office in Wichita, over 80 team members volunteered with RISE Farms, a local rooftop garden and solar farm, and Firefly Farm, its sister farm just outside city limits. The volunteers helped to plant vegetables and herbs that will be donated to several school lunch programs in the area.

Minnesota

POET Bioprocessing facilities in Glenville, Lake Crystal, Preston, and Bingham Lake each hosted litter clean-ups in their communities.

Iowa

POET – Fairbank has adopted a highway, and the team cleans up trash twice a year. POET – Corning planted ten evergreen trees at the facility. POET – Menlo donated $1,000 to the Madison County Foundation for environmental education and to help purchase trees for Pammel State Park, which team members will help plant. POET bioprocessing facilities in Hanlontown, Ashton, Coon Rapids, Iowa Falls, Jewell, Emmestburg, and Gowrie all participated in littler clean-ups in their respective towns.

Missouri

POET – Macon is working with the Missouri University Extension Office to provide a garden area and volunteers to help the local community to grow fresh produce.

Indiana

POET Bioprocessing facilities in Portland, North Manchester, Shelbyville, and Alexandria all participated in litter clean-ups in their respective communities.

Nebraska

POET – Fairmont planted trees in a local park in Exeter, Neb.

Ohio

POET – Fostoria organized a city-wide park clean-up with other businesses; over a dozen other organizations participated, as well as the local fire and police departments. POET – Marion planted trees, and POET – Leipsic hosted a litter clean-up at the local reservoir.

Michigan

POET – Caro provided trees for POET team members to plant at their homes and participated in the local Chamber of Commerce roadside clean-up.

Earth Day is an opportunity to bring the POET mission outside company walls and raise awareness about the need for sustainable living practices. “At POET, we strive to live like it’s Earth Day every day,” said Alyssa Broin, Vice President of Team and Community Impact. “We want to leave behind a better world. This is just one small way we’re working to make that happen – but we know firsthand that small changes can make a big difference in the long run.”

Team members across POET's footprint participated in various Earth Day activities

POET team members celebrate Earth Day by giving back to local communities across the POET network

If It’s Good Enough for NASCAR

Russ Evans, Under the Hood Radio Show Host and Mechanic

We thought for a while that winter would never end. But as warmer weather finally arrived and the long winter faded into memory, our thoughts turned to the summer activities ahead.

For the Motor Medics, summer means performance — NASCAR, IndyCar, sprint cars, motorcycle racing, and off-road adventures. All these take fuel, and that means, for us, fuel equals fun.

As NASCAR kicked off in February, we were watching the Daytona 500, and a discussion started about fuel. Someone posed the question, “How much fuel do you think they use in a race?” Right there, in the middle of lap 20, we all pulled out our phones to find out.

The answer varies, but it can be around 5,000 gallons per race across all the cars. That’s a lot of fuel, but a race like Daytona is 500 miles, with cars averaging between four to five miles per gallon. As we were looking, we also checked out the fuel stats. We know that NASCAR has been using Sunoco Green E15 for a while. Indy has used E85 and will be switching to 100% renewable bioethanol fuel.

Now NASCAR isn’t using your average pump blend E15 that we all fill up with on the day-to-day. It’s 98 octane compared to the 88 that you and I get at the pump, and every point of that octane counts towards more performance and fuel mileage. Sunoco Ethanol Racing fuel also has a green tint to it.

For professional racing leagues, it’s all about the octane. A higher octane rating means increased performance. The racecars run a 12:1 compression ratio, so running a lower-octane fuel would detonate and destroy the engines. Another key benefit of using E15 is fuel savings. Bioethanol is lower in cost, and at 5,000 gallons a race, every bit saved helps.

In the shop, we’re seeing more vehicles in general that either require premium octane fuel or recommend it. Required means you must use it to protect the engine from detonation, and recommended means it will likely perform much better using the premium blend. We see cars that recommend premium fuel getting much better mileage with high octane, as they self-adjust things like timing and fuel curve based on fuel type. You could use premium straight gasoline, or you could use higher-octane bioethanol fuel and save money.

My co-host Shannon and I both have a performance Camaro and a turbocharged four-cylinder Solstice street performance car in our fleets, and they both benefit from using E30 (30% bioethanol). When we fuel these cars, we are saving over $1.00 a gallon on average, and that adds up quickly. In our other cars, we use E15 to save money and keep the performance.

NASCAR and IndyCar would not use biofuel blends in engines that cost upwards of $125,000 if they were afraid of damage. So, it’s safe to say that if bioethanol is good enough for the pros, it’s certainly good enough for your daily driver!

The Motor Medics. Under The Hood can be found on a station near you or your favorite podcast site.

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Poetry in Motion: Moving Toward Carbon Neutrality

Decarbonization is finding the spotlight in bioethanol value chains

By Ryan Turpin

Carbon is the stuff of life.

By weight, it makes up roughly 18 percent of the human body, 43 percent of a corn plant, and 50 percent of most trees. Fundamental to both photosynthesis and respiration, we quite literally could not exist without it.

At the same time, there is strong evidence that an imbalance in Earth’s carbon cycle — namely, too much carbon in the atmosphere — is the leading driver of global climate change, which many experts agree represents an existential threat to humanity. For this reason, we are increasingly interested in measuring carbon intensity as a way of evaluating environmental impact. The lower the carbon intensity score of a process or product, the better. The higher, the more reason to decarbonize.

“Bioethanol and agriculture are joined at the hip,” said Doug Berven, POET Vice President of Corporate Affairs. “Efforts to decarbonize bioethanol aren’t just good for us; they help create and expand broader agricultural markets.”

Berven also points out the benefit to humankind. The more that agriculture comes in contact with innovation, the more we will learn about how to source what we need from above the ground and the less we will need from under it. Through this process, we can reduce our reliance on fossil materials and allow a more natural carbon balance to be restored.

Carbon intensity scores aren’t guesswork. They are generated with the use of stringent mathematical models — such as the Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator (FD-CIC) created by Argonne National Laboratory — and account for key production factors that include user-specific information. Calculating the carbon intensity of agricultural products, for example, requires looking at data from individual farms.

But the average 21st-century farmer already has a lot on their hands dealing with not only well, farming, but also ag-tech, proprietary systems, and stakeholder and government obligations. Is it really necessary to add decarbonization to the list? “Necessary” might be a strong word, but on the other hand, “beneficial” might be an understatement.

Decarbonization: What is it good for?

The most clichéd observation about decarbonization’s benefits might also be the most important one: it’s good for the planet. Lowering the overall carbon intensity of agriculture stands to have a massive benefit to global sustainability targets, and this relies heavily on maximizing the potential of crops and croplands to act as natural carbon sinks. But in addition to helping the greater good, here’s what farmers can expect to get out of efforts to drive down carbon intensity:

More sustainable farming

“Over the years, farmers have gotten incredibly adept at balancing short-term economics with long-term production capability,” said Berven. “Even today, however, we’re continuing to learn more about how the natural environment works and how to best care for it.”

As it turns out, there’s a significant overlap between agricultural practices that lower carbon intensity and those that promote the health of localized ecosystems, especially soil microbiomes. For example, minimal tillage, cover cropping, and efficient management of byproducts can all contribute to decarbonization by improving soil structure, nutrient retention capacity, and resistance to drought and flooding. Reducing the use of fossil-based fertilizers is also healthier for both farms and the planet and can be achieved through the use of technologies like precision agriculture. Grouped together, these practices are often called “regenerative” and demonstrate the dovetailing of decarbonization and long-term production.

Cost reductions and new revenue streams

Going back over the list above — healthier soil, reduced tillage, less fertilizer, decreased negative effects from drought and flooding — it also serves as a “what’s what” of potential cost reductions for farmers. And, in a sector where profit margins have fallen drastically over many decades, they can have disproportionate economic benefits.

But cost savings aren’t the only economic upside to less carbon-intense practices. The global focus on carbon has led to the creation of carbon markets, wherein certificates related to carbon management can be bought and sold. Farmers who adopt methods of increasing organic soil carbon or decreasing their above-ground emissions can earn verified carbon credits that can be sold to other individuals or organizations — a practice that is aptly referred to as “carbon farming.”

Decarbonization also opens the door to a widening range of funding options for the agricultural sector. Many are through government initiatives, including the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which has earmarked $369 billion for energy and climate change-related programs over the next ten years — but private investment in sustainability-related technology and programs is also at an all-time high and can provide a serious boost to farmers who are exploring innovation or expansion, as well as those who are simply working to keep their farms profitable.

Valuable partnerships

Efforts to decarbonize can also help farmers to align with other organizations that are pursuing similar goals. These organizations may be within or adjacent to the agricultural sector, or they may be in a variety of other areas, such as education, finance, manufacturing, or transportation. Beyond financial resources, these partnerships can offer various types of knowledge, skill, and human capital that can benefit farmers and agricultural value chains.

And, when partnerships are created with companies like POET that are pioneering decarbonization solutions, all of these things come together.

Carbon intensity scoring is one of the main landmarks in this new frontier of farming. Through the use of standardized methodologies, carbon emission reductions can be tracked accurately and reliably. This allows for objective, data-based decision-making by producers, consumers, investors, and regulators.

“Carbon intensity scores give clarity and trustworthiness in the industry,” said Jeff Heikes, POET Senior Vice President of Research. “Without them, producers and consumers of agricultural products would essentially just be guessing at which technologies to invest in or which companies to partner up with.”

Some agricultural producers may be hesitant about the prospect of getting up to speed on carbon markets, developing a carbon management plan, or navigating new sets of guidelines and regulations.

But through its upcoming series on carbon intensity and decarbonization in Vital, POET hopes to not only simplify some of these concepts, but also to show just how substantially they can benefit farmers — and the world.

I’m Not Ready Yet

By Scott Johnson, A Thinker of Thoughts (and POET Data Systems Administrator)

Picture this: You scheduled a 9:34 AM tee time at a popular golf course, and you roll in at 9:33 AM to notify the clubhouse staff (or official starter if you’re at a fancy course): “Wait, I’m not ready yet!” You mosey over to the driving range to hit a few balls, do some pseudo-yoga stretches, then stroll back into the clubhouse for a Diet Coke. Now at 10:17 AM, you inform the starter you’re ready to tee off, and he politely guides you to the tee box.

Has this ever happened to you?

Of course not. Because that’s not how golf works. If you plead, “Wait, I’m not ready yet!” the starter will likely glare at you dumbfounded and continue ushering the next foursome to the tee box. He would just as likely lend you his underwear than allow you to tee off past your scheduled time. Golf etiquette doesn’t really care if you’re ready or not for the mutually agreed upon, very specific tee time. Golf is going to continue with or without you. “I’m not ready yet” is not an adequate pause button for golf, and it certainly is not for life.

I’ve reached a new stage in life where the time has come to step up to the tee box, but “I’m not ready yet!”

My oldest daughter will head off to college this fall. It’s a normal progression for a young adult to leave the nest after high school to explore life on their own. It’s an exciting time for her, and I fully acknowledge it as a critical next step in shaping her future. But I’m not ready yet.

My youngest child will get his driver’s permit soon. Driving freedom is a monumental milestone for a teen and parents. He’ll soon be able to drive himself to school, the gym, and the soda fountain (or wherever teenagers go these days.) I should be thrilled that my days as an unpaid chauffeur are nearly over. But I’m not ready yet.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently lowered the recommended age for getting a colonoscopy from 50 to 45. I’m definitely not ready for that yet.

Ready or not, these new realities are staring me in the face (well, maybe not exactly my face in the last instance). They are not-so-subtle landmarks, pushing me into a new phase of life. The hectic but comforting days of young parenthood and not getting colonoscopies are coming to a close.

Like my 9:34 AM tee time, I knew this time was coming. I also know that attempts to hit an imaginary pause button, pleading with life to wait, will be pointless. I feel a bit short on practice swings and a bit tight in the hip flexors, but my next tee time has arrived. If I want to play, I guess I have to step up to the tee and smack it down the fairway. Or just into the rough. Okay, probably the fairway of the next hole over. But at least I’ll be playing!

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At some point, technology and nature fell out of rhythm. POET is getting us back in rhythm with nature with an ever-expanding suite of clean, renewable, plant-based solutions. | poet.com