Poet DSM Advanced Biofuels won’t have to repay financial incentives for mothballed Emmetsburg plant

In Iowa, the Des Moines Register newspaper reports that Poet DSM Advanced Biofuels will not have to pay back financial incentives received from the Iowa Economic Development Authority to build the joint cellulosic ethanol facility in Emmetsburg. The companies decided to temporarily pause production in November but then shut it down completely in July and laid off most of its workers. They do not plan to reopen the facility due to lack of ethanol demand resulting from continued approval of small refinery exemptions by the Environmental Protection Agency further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.