Legend Jeff Broin
Biofuels Pioneer | 2017 INDUCTEE
Jeff Broin grew up on a farm in Kenyon, MN, that had been in his family for over 150 years! With all those years of experience, the Broin family was always trying to find ways to get better at what they did on the farm.
Back when Jeff was growing up in the 1980s, farmers were growing too much corn, and there weren’t enough places to sell it, so a lot of it went to waste. The Broins didn't like wasting their corn, so they learned to use it to make something called bioethanol right on their farm. Bioethanol is used as a fuel to power cars and help clean the air we breathe — plus it makes use of all that extra corn!
When Jeff finished college, he had just started working as a banker when his family did something unexpected. They went to an auction to buy some parts from an old bioethanol plant in Scotland, SD, so they could keep making bioethanol on their farm, but instead, they ended up buying the whole plant! At just 22 years old, Jeff moved there to fix up that old plant. After a lot of hard work and repairs, it was ready to make bioethanol again! Jeff worked hard at that plant and grew it into a whole company, now called POET, that is the top maker of bioethanol in the United States and the world! Even though it started with that one small facility in South Dakota, POET now has 34 bioethanol plants in eight different states and produces 3 billion gallons of bioethanol — that’s a lot of fuel!
Jeff's big idea is to help farmers and help our Earth by creating cleaner biofuels and other useful bioproducts made from corn grown here in states like South Dakota. Jeff and POET are working to use the power of the sun, soil, and seed to create a better world.
Understanding Sustainability, Renewable, Bio-based, and Petroleum Products
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Imagine you have a big jar of your favorite candy, and you want it to last a long time. Instead of eating it all at once and having none left, you decide to eat a few pieces every day. That way, you can enjoy your candy for a longer time.
Sustainability is like that idea but for our planet. It means using our Earth's resources in a way that doesn't use them all up too quickly. So, if we take care of our planet and use things wisely, there will still be plenty left for the future, just like saving some candy for tomorrow!
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Think of the sun. Every day, without fail, it rises and gives us sunlight. We use sunlight to see during the day, play outside, and even to grow plants in our gardens.
A renewable product is something like that sunlight. It's a resource that keeps coming back or is always available for us to use. So, we can use it today, tomorrow, and for a long time without it ever running out.
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You know how you can use apples to make applesauce, apple juice, or even apple pie? Now, think about other things in nature, like plants or even some tiny living things.
A bioproduct is something made from these natural things, usually plants. Instead of using man-made or artificial stuff, we use renewable ingredients from nature to create new things that are healthier for us and for the planet! So, just like you can make yummy treats from apples, scientists and companies can make useful items from things found in nature, like corn, and those items are called bioproducts!
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When we think of powering cars, we usually think of gasoline, which is made from petroleum found deep beneath the Earth’s surface and isn’t very healthy for our planet. Biofuels, on the other hand, are a special type of fuel made from plants like corn or sugarcane. Just like you can put gasoline in cars to make them go, you can use plant-based biofuel (like the bioethanol POET makes)! It doesn’t contain all the chemicals found in gasoline, so it’s better for engines, our health, and the planet!
So, biofuels are like a greener and cleaner kind of fuel because they come from plants instead of things like petroleum. It's like giving cars a healthy, plant-powered boost instead of using things from deep underground!
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Imagine deep underground, there are huge, vast areas where there are lots of old, squished plants and tiny sea creatures from a very, very long time ago. Over millions of years, with lots of pressure and heat from the Earth, these old plants and creatures turned into fossils, which then became something called petroleum, also known as crude oil or fossil fuels.
So, when we talk about petroleum products like gasoline for cars, plastic for toys, or even things like shampoo and crayons, they all originally come from this deep, deep underground oil that formed from ancient plants and sea creatures. Petroleum can be replaced with biofuels and bioproducts made from plants like corn to work in sync with nature instead of taking from the Earth!
Watch the Legacy Video Interview with Jeff Broin Below!
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Watch the Legacy Video Interview with Jeff Broin Below! -
Fun Facts About POET
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After the Scotland bioethanol plant showed success, Jeff and his team were asked by other companies to build plants for them. Even though Jeff and his company had never done this before, they became experts in design, construction, and operations and have now built many bioprocessing plants across the country.
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Jeff wanted to choose a name for his company that was meaningful, and people would remember. When the name POET was suggested, Jeff wasn’t sure it was the right fit. He thought about it and then decided POET would be a good name because...
“Just as a poet takes everyday words and turns them into something extraordinary, we take corn – something common – and turn it into numerous products - products that can change the world and make a much better place to live in. “
—Jeff Broin (POET, 2024,19:30)
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Around the mid-2000s, Jeff noticed that the biofuels industry lacked a strong voice in Washington, DC, especially when policymakers were crafting new laws to shift from fossil fuels like coal and oil to alternatives like bioethanol. As a result, Jeff came together with other biofuels leaders and founded Growth Energy to advocate for the biofuels industry.
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At POET, no part of the corn kernel goes to waste. While the starch portion is used to make bioethanol and purified alcohol, the remaining protein, oil, and nutrients are used to produce an array of other valuable products, like animal feed and corn oil for a variety of uses. POET even captures renewable carbon dioxide that can be used to make bubbles in your soda! Every day, POET works to create new natural, plant-based products (bioproducts) to make life better for everyone.
Problem Solving
From the beginning, Jeff and the POET company set out to solve problems. Jeff and his family thought the first ethanol plant would solve two problems:
Help farmers sell the abundance of corn they were producing using all parts of a corn plant.
Produce biofuel, which would lessen the need for petroleum-based fuels.
Making a Difference
Jeff Broin and POET want to make a difference in the world, not by just producing renewable products, but also by helping communities and individuals throughout the world. POET supports a wide variety of causes in all of its home communities. The company also provides scholarships for college students. In addition, Jeff and his wife, Tammie, started an international nonprofit organization called Seeds of Change, which works to change the world through education and agriculture.
Reflection:
Jeff grew up on a farm where he and his family had to work seven days a week. Jeff was only 22 years old when he moved away from his family farm in Minnesota to Scotland, SD and began fixing and reopening the ethanol plant.
How do you think growing up on a family farm helped Jeff be able to do this at such a young age?
The POET company works to solve problems in our world related to pollution and the environment.
How do you think growing up on a farm helped Jeff learn how to solve problems?
What did you think when you learned one of leading companies trying to solve problems related to transforming the fuels we use was born and is located in South Dakota?
What leadership characteristics did Jeff probably have when he first started the company and what new leadership skills did he develop as the the company grew?
How does Jeff’s story inspire and motivate you?