(LSU) AgCenter researchers looking at ethanol from sugar cane

ShreveportTimes.com
Special to The Times • December 15, 2008 2:00 am

ST. GABRIEL — Researchers at the LSU AgCenter's Audubon Sugar Institute are combining their knowledge of sugarcane processing and chemical engineering to develop a synergy between sugar production and ethanol.

Some of the same process technology industry uses for producing ethanol from corn can be used to produce it from many other raw materials, including sugarcane and similar plants, said Donal Day, a researcher at the LSU AgCenter's Audubon Sugar Institute.

"The knowledge base is here," Day said.

Funding for ethanol research at Audubon Sugar Institute has come from several sources. This year, the U.S. Department of Energy provided a grant of $980,000, and BP has given an additional $400,000, Day said. Over the past few years, funding for ethanol research at Audubon has exceeded $3 million.

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