You may have heard quite a bit about it already, but today my post is going to be about—you guessed it— the grand opening of Poet-DSM’s Project Liberty.

We’ve been hearing and reporting about it for many years. When it comes to renewable energy projects like these, that is a commonality amongst them all—they take a very long time to finish.

Innovative renewable fuel projects, more often than not, hit road blocks. Deal breakers. They face technological problems scaling up. They run into financial hurdles. They raise eyebrows, prompt skepticism and make people angry when they don’t succeed (they also make some people angry when they do).

And there have been many fallen soldiers up to this point, there’s no denying that.

On Sept. 3, however, in the small town of Emettsburg, Iowa, Poet-DSM showcased an amazing accomplishment—tangible, visible proof that we can do this, we can triumph over our country’s fossil fuel addiction.

And I’m proud to say that I was there to witness it.

Biomass Magazine Executive Editor Tim Portz and I hopped into the car and began our road trip from Minneapolis down to Emittsburg at about 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Armed with all of the fuel (coffee) we needed, we drove through an early morning storm and were then met with a beautiful pinkish sunrise, a befitting precursor to a historic day in our industry’s quest to make cleaner, environmentally friendly and renewable fuel.

Poet-DSM wasn’t sure how many people would be visiting the site throughout the day, but said there may be thousands (that must have been an awkward conversation with the caterer). We were some of the first to arrive and had the privilege of touring the facility, welcoming the King of the Netherlands and other state officials as they arrived on site, taking in an ethanol-powered Vanguard Squadron airshow, enjoying a very impressive laser light show prior to the grand opening ceremony, listening to some encouraging and inspiring words from the project’s leaders and the event’s special guests, and—maybe my favorite part of the day—is when all of the farmers were asked to stand up for recognition, or, as FOX NASCAR reporter Krista Voda said, “The people with dirt under their fingernails.”

I was very surprised at how many were there—in fact, three in a row sitting just to my right.

And the looks on their faces said it all.

They took a gamble. They deviated from the traditional farming practices to help make history. They are, perhaps, the most important piece to this puzzle.

And they were proud, as they most certainly should be.

Poet employees were also recognized and asked to stand up, many of whom were featured in a special edition of the town’s newspaper with their photos, position and when they began working for the company. The entire 30-page edition was dedicated solely to Project Liberty, a keepsake that townspeople will no doubt tuck away for years to come.

When the time came to head back to the Twin Cities, buses of the general public were arriving on site to allow people to wait in line to get a look at what Poet has done there, Emmetsburg’s mark on the map, and Poet-DSM’s mark in the renewable fuel era.

Congrats to everybody who played a part in the role out and success of Project Liberty. I look forward to seeing the industry build on this momentum.