CF Industries and POET launch low-carbon fertilizer pilot

CF Industries and biofuel producer POET have launched a pilot program with several large agricultural cooperatives to develop a low-carbon fertilizer supply chain to reduce the carbon intensity of ethanol production.

The initiative brings together CF Industries, POET, and cooperatives, including WinField United, NuWay-K&H, New Cooperative, and Farmers Cooperative. The partners will track the use of low-carbon nitrogen fertilizer from production through retail distribution and application on corn fields in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska.

Corn grown using the lower-carbon fertilizer will be supplied to POET ethanol plants in Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska. The company estimates the pilot could produce 5 to 6 million gallons of lower-carbon ethanol.

The effort is designed to demonstrate how reduced-emissions fertilizer can measurably lower the carbon intensity of ethanol, an increasingly important factor as fuel markets and regulators place greater emphasis on lifecycle emissions.

The pilot includes certification and tracking of low-carbon ammonia produced by CF Industries and distributed through its retail partners. The company’s Donaldsonville, Louisiana, complex produces low-carbon ammonia by capturing carbon dioxide generated during ammonia production and permanently storing it underground. At full capacity, the facility can produce up to 1.9 million tons of low-carbon ammonia annually—enough to supply fertilizer for an estimated 19 million to 22 million acres of corn.

The pilot comes as ethanol producers face increasing pressure to reduce lifecycle emissions to meet low-carbon fuel standards in the U.S. and abroad. By linking fertilizer production, farming practices, and ethanol processing, the partners aim to demonstrate a scalable model for lowering the carbon intensity of biofuels while maintaining farm productivity.