South Carolina embracing biofuels

Southeast Farm Press
Sep 22, 2008 9:30 AM, By Peter Hull
Clemson University

If a major biofuels refinery is built in South Carolina, it likely will source raw material from Palmetto State fields, which is an enormous opportunity for the state’s growers, a Clemson University alternative energy researcher says.

Agronomist James Frederick said the burgeoning bioenergy industry could present a tremendous opportunity for South Carolina growers. Transportation costs associated with importing large quantities of sugarcane from Brazil or corn and soybeans from the Midwest into the state would be cost-prohibitive, says Agronomist James Frederick, who studies the science and technology of utilizing plants for food and fuel, among other applications.

“It has to be a locally grown crop to be economically viable,” Frederick says.

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