Published: October 21, 2007 11:07 pm         

State should move quickly to be a player in biofuels

We’ve been hearing about the potential benefits of ethanol and biofuels and how they can help ease dependence on oil.

The arguments make sense, and several ethanol plant projects have been announced in Oklahoma, including Enid. But, so far, no construction yet.

One of the concerns has been corn-based ethanol. There are concerns about the impact of starch-based ethanol of rising food prices and higher grain prices, and in fact, that has been a factor in the delay in development of Oklahoma ethanol plants.

A biofuels conference this past week heralded the need to develop switchgrass as an alternative crop for ethanol development and production. Oklahoma’s climate is very conducive to growing it, and it’s possible the state could be a leader in the biofuels industry.

OK. That’s great. So, it’s time to stop talking and start doing. So far the Legislature has approved $10 million for the creation of Oklahoma Bioenergy Center, a research collaboration among OU, OSU and the Noble Foundation.

While $10 million is a pretty good sum, we know it will take more of a financial commitment than that. This is a project that needs to be put on the fast track so Oklahoma really can get ahead of the game.

Another barrier is educating Oklahoma farmers about switching crops in order to reap some of the possible rewards from increased biofuels production. We anticipate there likely will need to be some subsidies involved to get farmers to make the switch.

Many will contend that developing ethanol is just an effort in spinning wheels because production costs in the beginning may be more than production costs of traditional fuel, such as oil and gas.

We know we are in the beginning stages of discussing and developing biofuels, but it’s a necessary step we need to take. It just makes sense to develop alternative fuels, and since Oklahoma is such a large agricultural state, we do need to be moving quickly to position ourselves as a major player.