South Dakota-based biofuel producer POET has reached an agreement with NASCAR to supply ethanol with a zero-carbon footprint for the stock car racing series, marking a first for the sport and the fuel industry, Des Moines Register reported.
POET chief executive Jeff Broin said the company will provide the country’s first commercially available zero-carbon ethanol. The agreement, which also involves fuel supplier Sunoco, was announced on Friday in Florida, ahead of the NASCAR season-opening Daytona 500, scheduled for Sunday.
The NASCAR calendar this season will also include the Iowa Corn 350 on August 9 at Iowa Speedway, underscoring the link between the sport and the ethanol industry. Iowa is the largest producer of both corn and ethanol in the United States.
The ethanol sector has increasingly highlighted low- and zero-carbon fuels as key to its future. Such fuels could be used in producing sustainable aviation and marine fuels, which would significantly raise demand for ethanol and the corn used to make it.
Broin said POET’s current output of zero-carbon ethanol is limited. He explained that production depends on the ability to capture and use carbon dioxide generated during the process, which is typically sold for uses such as carbonating beverages or making dry ice. Until demand for captured carbon dioxide grows, supplies of the zero-carbon fuel will remain constrained.
