When new technology is first introduced, there’s always a little patience required before all the bugs are worked out. Ethanol isn’t any different. This isn’t a new technology, but its development stage into a major energy producer was new. Each year a new layer of technology comes along to make it a more efficient operation. The process continues until the next big technology comes unto the scene. As ethanol production becomes more efficient, it’s also doing its primary job of diversify this country’s energy mix. That’s the real success story.

RKP

Renewable Energy World.com reports that Poet plans to decrease water use in the production of ethanol by 22 percent over the next five years in the first goal of its sustainability initiative, Ingreenuity. If successful, it will cut the company’s water used per gallon of ethanol from an average of 3 gallons to 2.33, an annual water savings of one billion gallons.

In 2009, Poet plants used an average of three gallons of water per gallon of ethanol, which is an 80 percent decrease from when the company first produced ethanol in 1988.