CF Industries and POET, along with major farming co-ops, have started a test project to create a low-carbon fertilizer supply chain. The aim is to show how using low-carbon nitrogen fertilizers can handle carbon footprint reduction of corn farming and help produce cleaner ethanol for fuel.
The project includes companies like WinField United (part of Land O’Lakes) and agricultural co-ops such as NuWay-K&H, New Cooperative, and Farmer’s Cooperative. They will track the use of low-carbon fertilizer in places like Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska. POET will then use the corn grown with this fertilizer to make ethanol with a lower carbon footprint.
CF Industries makes this low-carbon fertilizer by capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions from its production process. The company can make up to 1.9 million tons of low-carbon ammonia each year, which can supply fertilizer for millions of acres of corn.
Executive Statement
According to Bert Frost, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, CF Industries, fertilizers manufactured with a lower carbon intensity provide a quantifiable and certifiable method of decarbonizing bioethanol inputs. They are proud to collaborate with POET, WinField United, NuWay-K&H, New Cooperative, and Farmer’s Cooperative to demonstrate the viability of a low-carbon ethanol value chain that links low-carbon fertilizers to retailers to farmers to ethanol production.