By Brad Haire
University of Georgia

Tifton, Ga. – Georgia could create a sustainable
alternative fuel industry that could help wean the state and
the country off of foreign oil by keeping agriculture strong,
commercializing research and creating a retail distribution
network, Governor Sonny Perdue said here Aug. 1.

“(Georgians) can grow it here, convert it here and use it and
export it when we have plenty for ourselves,” Perdue said
during the opening session of the Georgia Bio-energy Conference
at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference Center.

The three-day conference brought together national and
international speakers to talk about the current and future
state of global energy and biofuel supplies, government energy
policies and Georgia crops that can be converted to fuel.

Conference vendors displayed trucks and tractors fueled by
ethanol and biodiesel made from Georgia-grown commodities like
peanuts, soybeans, peaches, wheat and pine trees.

Georgia can grow homegrown energy and add value to farmers’
crops, Perdue told close to 500 participants. “I hope this
conference can continue the ideas of how we can harvest that,”
he said.

By promoting alternative fuels, the United States can ensure
fuel stability and reduce its dependancy on foreign sources of
oil, Perdue said.

“If we can grow our own fuel, why would we turn to dictators
and countries that pledge support for terrorist regimes,” he
said.

Georgia is moving forward, he said. The state’s research
universities must continue alternative fuel research. But they
need “to scale it up” from the lab and move it to practical
commercialization.

Once this happens, he said, the state can create a retail
distribution system to meet consumer demands.

More than $1 million in state and private funds have fueled the
Biorefining and Carbon Cycling Program in the UGA College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, he said. He also
touted Georgia Tech research that converts pine to ethanol.

Last year, a handful of refineries in Georgia produced about 3
million gallons of ethanol and biodiesel, he said. But they
exported most of that out of the state.

The Georgia Environmental Facilities Agency is working on the
state’s first comprehensive state energy plan, to be completed
by December, Perdue said. It will create a roadmap to
affordable, reliable, environmentally responsible energy
sources for Georgia.