Harvesting equipment expected to reduce cellulosic ethanol costs

Ethanol Producer Magazine
By Holly Jessen April 17, 2012

The largest bale picking truck (BPT) in the world is now on display at the International Biomass Conference & Expo in Denver, Colo. The 600-horsepower bale picking truck is designed to reduce the cost of field collection for square biomass bales with the capability to collect nearly three semi-loads of square bales per hour.

“We believe that advanced equipment could reduce supply chain costs as much as thirty cents per gallon on a cellulosic ethanol basis,” said Jeff Roskam, CEO of the Kansas Alliance for Biorefining and Bioenergy. The first-of-its-kind equipment has eight flotation tires and collects 42 square bales, the equivalent of a semi-truckload, without exceeding soil compaction standards. “No one else has this piece of equipment,” said Russ Gottlob, Feedstox operations manager. “We can’t wait to see the increase in productivity that will result from the consistent use of the BPT.”

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