POET teams with CF Industries to pilot low-carbon ammonia fertilizer to reduce the carbon intensity of corn

In Illinois, CF Industries Holdings, Inc. and POET LLC announced a collaboration to pilot the use of low-carbon ammonia fertilizer to reduce the carbon intensity of corn production and ethanol. Demand for ethanol with a lower carbon intensity is expected to increase significantly to meet low-carbon fuel standards.

Ammonia is commonly used as a direct application fertilizer for U.S. corn production, but the conventional ammonia production process is emissions intensive. As a result, ammonia production is a significant contributor to the lifecycle carbon intensity of corn production and thus ethanol production. Producing ethanol with corn grown using low-carbon ammonia can reduce the carbon intensity of ethanol up to 10 percent. The companies are targeting the fall of 2024 for the first applications of low-carbon ammonia with subsequent applications in spring of 2025, to produce a first crop to be harvested in the fall of 2025.