Biorefining
VERBIO and
Gr ing n e p O
Germany’s Verbio has unveiled its first North American biorefinery in Iowa. After completion of its second phase of construction next year, the plant will produce both RNG and ethanol, using stover and stillage for the former, and corn for the latter. By Katie Schroeder
RENEWABLE RESIDUE: Verbio acquires its corn stover within a 45-mile radius of the plant in Nevada, Iowa, not only contracting the necessary acres, but carrying the cost of collecting, baling and transporting the RNG feedstock to the biorefinery. PHOTO: VERBIO
Towering over the skyline outside Nevada, Iowa, the sprawling Verbio biorefinery is an impressive anomaly, not by its appearance but its capability. In early May, a grand opening was held for the first-of-its-kind renewable natural gas plant, the only industrial-scale RNG operation in the U.S. using corn stover as a feedstock. “This marks the formal launch of our company as an emerging leader in the renewable energy field, [and specifically] in the production of renewable natural gas,” Greg Northrup, president of Verbio North America Holding Co., told the government 24 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2022
officials, community members and corporate representatives on site for the startup celebration and plant tour. “This is the third leg of the stool in renewable fuels for Iowa. You’ve been doing ethanol for years; you’ve been doing biodiesel. Now, we add to this piece of the equation, renewable natural gas.” Earlier this year, the plant started producing stover-derived RNG at what it calls the “ethanol-gallons-equivalence” rate of 7 MMgy. When the second phase of its plan is complete early next year, the biorefinery will be producing RNG at the equivalence of 19 MMgy while, notably, also producing 60 MMgy of ethanol—actual ethanol—
from corn itself. The ethanol and RNG processes will be integrated; thin stillage from the ethanol process will be used as a supplementary feedstock for RNG alongside corn stover. “Integration of the ethanol production process with the renewable natural gas process will result in higher efficiencies and improved sustainability,” Verbio’s founder and CEO, Klaus Sauter, said at the grand opening. “No one has a higher output of renewable sustainable energy per metric ton of biomass than Verbio.” The company currently has 10 locations across Asia, Europe and now, North America. Sauter explained that the integration of these processes allows Verbio to achieve
