CF Industries and POET Launch Pilot to Develop Low-Carbon Fertilizer and Ethanol Supply Chain

Key Takeaways:

• CF Industries and POET have launched a pilot program to develop a low-carbon fertilizer-to-ethanol supply chain.
• The initiative involves major agricultural cooperatives across the U.S. Midwest.
• Low-carbon ammonia fertilizer is being used to reduce the carbon intensity of corn and ethanol production.
• POET expects to produce 5–6 million gallons of lower-carbon-intensity ethanol from the pilot.
• The program tracks carbon intensity certification from fertilizer production through ethanol output.

CF Industries and POET Collaborate on Low-Carbon Agriculture Pilot

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. and POET have launched a pilot project aimed at jointly developing a low-carbon fertilizer supply chain to support lower-carbon ethanol production. The initiative brings together fertilizer production, agricultural retail, corn growers, and biofuel processing to demonstrate how low-carbon nitrogen fertilizer can reduce emissions across the corn-to-ethanol value chain.

The pilot includes WinField United, the crop inputs and insights business of Land O’Lakes, Inc., along with agricultural cooperatives NuWay-K&H, New Cooperative, and Farmer’s Cooperative. Participating growers are located across Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska.

Tracking Carbon Intensity From Fertilizer to Ethanol

As part of the program, participants are tracking carbon intensity certification of low-carbon fertilizer produced by CF Industries and distributed through its retail network to corn growers. The corn grown using this fertilizer is then supplied to POET facilities in Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska for ethanol production.