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A
few minutes after he ended his remarks, more than 100 farmers, elected
officials and interested spectators, moved from the big white tent to a
nearby field where a large area of switchgrass was about to be mowed.
Sparks
said switchgrass offers an attractive alternative to coal which is an
expensive resource that must be mined far below the surface. It’s also
a dangerous business as illustrated by dozens of deaths in the past
year, including in Alabama.
"Rather
than dig coal, we can grow this in our fields and it can supplement our
farmers’ income and help us partner with power companies," Sparks
said. "We have all kinds of technology in this country and using
switchgrass is just one of them."
Deputy
Agriculture Commissioner Glen Zorn said switchgrass can be grown
"like any other forage." He said fertilizer can help it grow
to about 9 feet when it is ready to be harvested and then turned into a
fuel source.
Sessions
said he invited Faulkner to Alabama "to see first hand our capacity
to work with switchgrass."
"We
have tremendous amounts of wood products and agricultural assets along
with rain and a lot of sunlight," Sessions said. "Switch-grass
can capitalize on those assets that we can convert to fuel for our cars.
"It
will happen; it’s got to happen," Sessions added. "Nothing
will thrill me more than for our state to be a leader in that
transformation."
Sparks
likes to add poultry litter to the mix. He said more than a billion
birds are raised each year in Alabama, producing enough potential
"fuel" to power many vehicles.
One
of the "stars" of the conference was Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos,
who brought along one of his officers and a vehicle that is part of a
fleet that runs on ethanol. Hoover’s fleet of more than 100 vehicles
is the largest of its kind in the country. It is powered by a mixture of
85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. That’s why it’s referred
to as E-85.
"We’re
saving about $100,000 a year by using ethanol," Petelos said, as a
large group of reporters and officials crowded around him. "We
bring our ethanol in from Peoria, Ill. I’m hoping that one day we’ll
have our own processing plant in Alabama. I can see it happening
soon."
Hoover
Police Officer Barry Stamps stood proudly by the SUV he drove down
I-65 from Jefferson County and answered questions about the
efficiency factors involved in using ethanol instead of gasoline.
"Take
a look at the tailpipe on that SUV," Petelos said. "You run
your finger through a traditional gasoline-fueled tailpipe and it’ll
be black with soot. Check ours and you can see how nice and clean it
is."
Those
who support biofuel development see it as an answer not only to high oil
prices from the Mideast, but also feel it will help in many other energy
areas.
"What
we’re working on is an initiative to focus on biomass," Sessions
said. "It is a major challenge to our nation today and that’s why
I wanted (Faulkner) to see first hand our capacity to work with
switchgrass."
Sessions
said unstable foreign governments "could leave us in a critical
lurch at a time of national security. Our energy bill requires us to
produce 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol for our economy by 2012,"
Sessions said. "Where will it come from? Well, I believe Auburn
University and Alabama can be a big player. We have tremendous wood
products and agriculture capacities."
The
field conference’s most popular attraction was Wayne Keith’s
"wood" truck. He had a "field day" explaining how
his vehicle operates on cords of wood that are chopped and deposited
into a boiler in the bed.
"I
mow, chop and bag what I need for my fuel," Keith said, with a big
smile. "I really don’t see a downside right now. My truck can go
75 miles an hour with no problem."
Keith,
who lives in Springville and raises cattle, talked about his invention
as curious people gathered around him. He said he drove his truck to the
conference and didn’t have any problems along the way.
It’s
unlikely Keith’s "fuel" will reach a nationwide audience,
but those who put the conference together considered it just one more
example of American ingenuity in using what’s available for a given
task.
In
his address, Faulkner noted that America’s transportation sector
"is changing rapidly."
"It
is starting to resemble the wide-open market competition of the early
years of the (20th) century before the internal combustion engine
running on gasoline won out over other competitors," Faulkner said.
He
said hybrid vehicles are growing popular in the U.S. and, while they may
be only a "drop-in-the-bucket" of the estimated 250 million
gasoline-powered vehicles in the country, they represent a popular
alternative. Faulkner said hybrids eventually may all run on
"biofuels" which would result in "even greater reductions
in imported oil."
That
was music to Sparks’ ears. Since he became agriculture commissioner,
he has been sounding the same theme.
"For
every gallon of oil produced in Alabama means one less gallon of oil
that we have to get from the desert," he said. "The science to
do it is here now. We’ve just got to develop it."
It
was evident from the demonstrations on display at the field conference—from
the switchgrass to Keith’s "wood-powered truck"—that
development is on the way.
The
best news of all is the fact that Auburn University will play a role in
finding a way to make America less dependent on dictatorial foreign oil
prices.
Alvin
Benn is a freelance writer from Selma. |
