Piles of corn cobs on Darrin Ihnen's family farm would have been considered field waste not too long ago. Now they represent potential energy.
Poet, a Sioux Falls-based company that has been making ethanol from corn for more than 20 years, is working with Ihnen and several farm equipment manufacturers to develop ways to harvest, store and transport cobs that could one day join kernels as an alternative fuel source.
"Cobs surround our facilities," said Jeff Broin, Poet's president and chief executive officer. "It's a natural feedstock for us."