NATHAN
CRABBE
Sun staff
writer
The University of Florida is getting into the ethanol
business - a move that is already drawing criticism but could create a lucrative
new revenue source for the university.
The Florida Legislature this year
approved $20 million for UF to build a demonstration ethanol plant. University
officials are reviewing a half-dozen bids from companies vying to provide a site
and supporting services.
Currently most of the ethanol, an alternative to
gasoline, produced in the U.S. is made from corn, causing
higher prices for food products such as movie-theater popcorn and tortillas.
UF's plant will instead use genetically engineered E. Coli bacteria to produce
ethanol from plant material such as sugar-cane residue and fallen tree
limbs.
"Florida's not a corn state - we need to look
at alternate feedstocks," said UF microbiology professor Lonnie Ingram, who
developed the technology.
Ingram said the plant will help perfect the
technology, allowing it to be more widely used. UF officials hope the plant will
lead to other companies paying to use the technology, producing revenue like
Gatorade or other university-licensed products.
The plant is expected to
initially produce 1 million to 2 million gallons of ethanol per year but could
be expanded to produce 10 million gallons annually. The university, which will
own the plant, is scheduled to select a site Aug. 20 and have the plant running
by July 2008.
Bidders include some of the most prominent and
controversial companies in the state, leading some environmental advocates to
question the possible partnerships.
"It would be a real shame if we let
it get co-opted by a couple big companies with bad track records," said Holly
Binns, field director for Environment Florida.
Florida Crystals wants the
plant to be part of its sugar operations near Lake
Okeechobee. That sugar plant has been criticized for its impact on
water quality in the lake and Everglades. The
company is owned by the Fanjul family, whose members are some of the biggest
political donors in the state.
Buckeye Florida wants the plant near its Perry-area
pulp mill. The mill pours wastewater into the Fenholloway River. That wastewater darkens the river
and has resulted in mutations to fish.
Clean-water advocates questioned
whether the ethanol plant would add to those kind of problems. The push to build
a plant should be slowed while downsides are considered, said Joe Murphy,
Florida
program coordinator of the Gulf Restoration Network.
"If we rush into a
new energy future ... we may find ourselves in a situation worse than the one we
have now," he said.
Buckeye officials say the mill offers infrastructure
such as a railroad line and a stream of wood that could be used to produce
ethanol. Spokeswoman Michelle Curtis said the plant would be part of the
company's continuing commitment to being more environmentally
friendly.
"This is truly a green energy project," she
said.
Currently a Japanese plant uses Ingram's technology to produce
ethanol from housing debris. A Louisiana plant being built would use
sugar-cane residue in the process.
UF's plant will use sugar-cane residue
but will be the first to also use woody plant material, Ingram
said.
"Florida's just the place to grow these energy
crops," he said.
Binns said the technology offers a good alternative to
using corn. But she said the plant's water use - which is estimated to be
250,000 gallons per day - could pose other issues at a time when the state is
facing drought-related limits.
Florida Crystals would locate the plant in
Okeelanta as part of its sugar operations there, said company spokesman Gaston
Cantens. The company is already working with Florida International University to develop ethanol technology
under a $1 million grant.
The company also has a 140-megawatt power plant
that is fueled by material from sugar cane and wood waste. UF's ethanol plant
could use the same types of material, Cantens said.
Other bidders include
Indian River
County, which would locate
the plant on a county landfill. The county's utilities director, Eric Olson,
said the site would allow ethanol to be produced from yard and tree
trimmings.
"We've got the land, we've got the biomass material. It's all
right there," Olson said.
Elizabethan Development, a commercial building
contractor in Winter
Haven, would put the plant on the site of a citrus
operation being closed in Frostproof. The plant would allow citrus workers to
have another place to work, said Allen Taylor, president of the
contractor.
"I'm trying to save some guys' livelihoods," he
said.
Other bidders include the Clear Springs Land Co., which develops
land and runs agricultural operations in Polk County,
and the SI Group, a chemical maker that recently bought a wood-fueled power
plant near Tallahassee.
Because the technology is
licensed through the UF Research Foundation, the university isn't obligated to
publicly release the amount of money it would make through
licencing.
Ingram said he gets a small share of the profits for
developing the technology.
"I don't think I'll be quitting the day job,"
he said.
Nathan Crabbe can be reached
at 352-338-3176 or crabben@gville sun.com.
