A pilot project of the University of Tennessee and a private company to create ethanol from switchgrass could begin producing biofuel by next year, a fledgling effort that leaders hope will make the state a leader in alternative fuel production.
Gov. Phil Bredesen and UT President John Petersen on Wednesday announced the public-private initiative to develop so-called "cellulosic ethanol" on Capitol Hill. The project relies in part on more than $70 million in state funds as well as federally funded research from Oak Ridge National Laboratories.
The state has invested in the project, Bredesen said, "because of a strong belief that we in Tennessee are very well positioned to be a leader in alternative fuels."
"We have the right conditions, we have the right climate and resources to grow large quantities of biomass, we have the agricultural community, we also have the scientific and research communities in our universities and laboratories," the governor said.
Cellulosic ethanol is different from corn ethanol, a subsidized, decades-old industry.
Cellulosic ethanol is distilled from plant biomass such as leaves and stalks; regular ethanol uses corn kernels.
Switchgrass is increasingly seen as a more sustainable biofuel source, but there's no infrastructure for refining it yet.
The project's announcement comes amid growing doubts nationally about corn ethanol as an alternative fuel source.
Food shortages and high prices around the globe, which have resulted in violence and political instability in some counties, are blamed in part on the increasing dedication of cropland to corn ethanol rather than food consumption.
Congress changes viewMembers of Congress have begun to re-evaluate their views on corn ethanol after years of approving federal subsidies.
Earlier this week, Rep. Bart Gordon, a Tennessee Democrat, chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, wrote in an energy policy briefing: "we need to expand biofuels to nonfood materials, such as cellulosics."
Bredesen said he believes that corn-based ethanol "is a dead end." Cellulosic ethanol has much greater potential but requires public investment because of the higher costs and more complex technology.
"I think it's a great example of how you put a little venture capital on the table and get some markers down, and things happen," he said.
Amani Elobeid, an associate scientist and ethanol analyst at the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development at Iowa State University, said that there is now no commercial production of switchgrass-based ethanol in the country and that crops would have to be subsidized.
She said that switchgrass doesn't necessarily solve all of the problems associated with corn ethanol and that it's too soon to know how the cellulosic ethanol industry will evolve.
The project will create a pilot-scale biorefinery in Vonore, Tenn.
DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC, a joint venture of DuPont and Denmark-based Genencor, will build the plant. Initially, the plant will make fuel from corn leaves and stalks but will change over to switchgrass.
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