Poet opens Ohio's first ethanol plant

Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Poet opened Ohio's first ethanol plant, the first of three that the company plans to open in the state this year.

Poet, the biggest ethanol producer in the U.S., said the $105 million facility in Leipsic has an annual production capacity of 65 million gallons per year.

The Ohio plant is the 22nd facility from Poet, which also has plants under construction in Marion and Fostoria.

"We are honored to open the first ethanol plant in the Buckeye state and the first in the nation since the historic legislation of the 2007 Energy Bill," said Jeff Broin, CEO of POET.

Poet said the new plant will use its BPX technology that it said eliminates the need for heat in the cooking process of producing ethanol, reducing energy usage by 8 to 15 percent in comparison with conventional plants.

The company said the Liepsic facility will also be outfitted with a regenerative thermal oxidizer that eliminates up to 99.9 percent of air emissions.

The plant employs 45 workers with an annual payroll above $2 million.

Poet produces and markets more than 1.17 billion gallons of ethanol annually.

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