By Jim Shamp
News and Publications Editor
The fiber and juice in sorghum, sweet potatoes and switchgrass might seem like a "hard cell" to traditional petroleum interests, but some 200 agriculture specialists and students literally had a field day recently exploring North Carolina’s future in fuels from the farm.
It was the first encounter with some of these leading cellulosic biofuel feedstocks for many of the folks who gathered Sept. 27 at the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture & Life Science's 661-acre Williamsdale Farm near the Duplin County community of Wallace.
But by the end of the day, the participants returned to their homes across the state with a new appreciation for the changes – and the challenges – that will be coming to fuel tanks statewide.
These specially developed purple sweet potatoes might be valuable for neutraceuticals and biofuel feedstock.
The 2007 Biofuels Field Day gave farmers, business and government representatives, students and researchers up-close access to some of the leading plants, processes and people involved in North Carolina's newly established commitment to make biofuels a viable new business sector statewide.
Significantly, the gathering came just three weeks after the inaugural board meeting of the Biofuels Center of North Carolina.
The non-profit corporation is setting up headquarters at the newly established North Carolina Biofuels Campus in Oxford, on the site of the former U.S. Department of Agriculture tobacco research facility that was turned over in 2005 to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Biofuels Plan
Funded with a $5 million initial appropriation from the 2007 General Assembly, the Biofuels Center kickoff started implementation of North Carolina's Strategic Plan for Biofuels Leadership, mandated by the General Assembly in 2006 and presented to its Environmental Review Commission in April 2007.
The Plan's goal is to have the Biofuels Center work with researchers, growers, production facilities, educators, and policy-makers to ensure that 10 percent of liquid fuels sold in North Carolina come from biofuels grown and produced within the state by 2017. At current usage rates, that's 560 million gallons of biofuel production a year.
Unlike the already robust corn-based ethanol activity in the Midwest, North Carolina's production will take advantage of the geographic and agricultural diversity that characterizes the mountains-to-seashore lay of the land.
Though technologies are already in place for converting that Midwestern corn, Brazilian sugar cane and European sugar beets into ethanol, North Carolina biofuel planners are targeting existing specialty crops and other feedstocks that won’t infringe on food production and pricing. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture expects ethanol to account for 30 percent of America’s corn crop by 2010, up from about 14 percent last year.
Vaughn and Wendy Ruth, founders of Woodleaf Biodiesel Innovations in Salisbury, demonstrate canola processing equipment.
That leads to increased food prices and more environmentally intensive farming practices. North Carolina, on the other hand, is committed to using enzymes and other tools of its already booming biotechnology sector to transform wood waste, animal waste, and specially developed sweet potatoes and other crops into ethanol.
Small refineries scattered throughout the state will limit the need for transporting raw materials and finished fuel products, and will adjust their distilling processes based on local agricultural practices.
A Wolfpack Perspective
During the field day, North Carolina State University researchers showed participants how various fuels are made and feedstocks grown.
Mike Boyette and Mari Chinn of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering showed how sorghum is stripped of its leaves to prevent their absorption of plant juices. Then the stalks are run through a roller press that extracts the juice, which is then distilled into ethanol in a process exactly like that used for moonshine whiskey.
Oil seeds, including summer crops of soybeans and winter crops of canola, were discussed by Nicholas George and Kimberly Tungate of the university's Solar Center.
"You can grow your own biodiesel on-farm for your own use with about 10 percent of your land," George told amazed farmers as visitors watched canola seeds being pressed into oil that is then easily refined into biodiesel. "Remember, there are also no taxes on biodiesel for on-farm use."
George said North Carolina farmers might soon be producing all the fuel they need to run their individual farms, possibly using processing equipment purchased cooperatively and moved from farm to farm. That's already common in Australia, he said, and it's similar to the approach used by American farmers back in the days of the thrashing machine.
Ken Pecota and Craig Yencho of the Department of Horticultural Science showed visitors various sweet potatoes being developed and discussed their potential feedstock value. Ron Heiniger of the Department of Crop Science and Ratna Sharma of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering let visitors commune with head-high switchgrass and discussed some of the plant’s benefits and difficulties in getting from the field to the fuel tank.
"So where can I sell my switchgrass if I grow a couple of acres?” asked A.K. Griffin, a Sanford farmer. "Unfortunately that's the problem right now," responded Heiniger. "No place – nobody is doing anything with it yet except what we use for testing here at NCSU."
The question – and answer – pinpointed the problem for North Carolina's biofuels industry. Nothing was being done. But now, state leaders have put their collective foot on the gas pedal.
"How often does a state have the opportunity to create a large new industry with widespread benefit?" asked W. Steven Burke, chair of the Biofuels Center's board of directors and senior vice president of corporate affairs for the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. "Meeting this bold goal will require enormous commitment, new resources, and untold acres of energy crops across the state. But it will also yield a sector with statewide impact, particularly for rural and agricultural communities."
Contact Jim Shamp at 919-549-8889.