About two years ago, area farmers were riding ethanol's wave.

Gasoline prices were reaching record-high levels and global unrest left many seeking an alternative fuel source to lessen the country's dependence on foreign oil.

With gasoline prices down to around $2 a gallon, the appetite for ethanol has slacked for the short-term and has left opinion divided as to the future of ethanol as an alternative fuel source.

"You have a market that has declined dramatically over where it was a year ago," Calhoun County Clemson Extension Agent Charles Davis said.

But while the excitement has waned, farmers are always open to any avenue - from ethanol to cow food - that will allow them to make a profit, Davis said.

Wood or corn-based ethanol?

Davis says while corn-based ethanol did help farmers, it was a classic case of a Catch-22. A greater demand for ethanol led to a greater demand for corn, which in turn led to higher corn prices.

"Farmers will get a better price for their grain but consumers will be paying more in the grocery store for their corn flakes," Davis said. He placed much of the blame for the past spike in corn prices on speculation.

But he said high food prices on top of already high gasoline prices and utility bills is a hardship.

The cost of food "would hit the consumer when they don't need it," Davis said.

He said as a result of food price increases and supply issues, plant rather than grain-based fibers would be a better way proceed.

"There are more opportunities available and more of a benefit to South Carolina," Davis said. "We can grow switchgrass and other high-fiber crops that don't have the competitive value."

Orangeburg County Clemson Extension Agent Lewis Beckham said in the future, grain-based ethanol solutions such as corn will "be very limited in its value as an alternative fuel."

"The net energy gained in converting corn to ethanol is energy inefficient," Beckham said. "The net energy gained in that process is not as much as we need for it to be a genuine problem-solver. It takes nitrogen and nitrogen takes a lot of energy to produce. It is real expensive.

"If you can't make it on paper, you can't make it in the field."

Orangeburg County Clemson Extension Agent Beth Richardson said while the county has enough trees to support wood-based ethanol production, she says it won't be a cure-all either.

She said trees would have to be clear-cut every four to eight years to meet the demand, which most likely would not sit well with many environmentalists.

Charles Ray Brown, farmer and operator of Springfield Grain Co., produces about 150 acres of corn. He more than doubled his acreage a couple of years ago to meet the demand for ethanol.

He says with prices currently about $4.50 a bushel and input costs still high, he is still bullish on corn-based ethanol.

"If it was not for ethanol, our corn prices would be depressed a lot lower than where they are now," Brown said.

"I think down the road we will make ethanol out of wood chips, but right now corn is the best thing we've got and does the best job right now," he said.

S.C. Commissioner of Agriculture and Bowman dairy farmer Hugh Weathers does not believe corn-based ethanol had a drastically negative impact on food prices.

"It was very minor," he said. "We had food go up by about 5 percent last year and the grain impact is about 10 percent of that total. The food-versus-fuel argument really does not hold water. Once we can get beyond that, it is an opportunity to bring ... idle acreage back into production."

Weathers says he believes cellulosic (wood-based) biomass technology is feasible, but it is at least three years down the road.

"When you talk about biomass, the Southeast is the Saudi Arabia of biomass with all our trees," Weathers said.

But Weathers said whichever direction is trod, the economy will have to turn around before any company will want to invest in a biofuel plant.

"You gotta fix your roof when the sun is shining," he said, quoting President John Kennedy. "I still see it as a great potential."

Ethanol is typically produced by fermenting and distilling sugar or starch products. A bushel of field corn will yield 1.6 pounds of corn oil or 2.7 gallons of fuel ethanol.

Some critics of the corn-to-ethanol switch is that the process is coal-intensive and that clearing trees off land to plant corn increases the carbon dioxide footprint.

Brown says there is no fear of wholesale land clearing locally.

It is just the opposite.

"We are building homes and buildings in the place of farmland," Brown said.

Attracting agribusiness

Orangeburg County Development Commission Executive Director Gregg Robinson says attracting ag-based industry to the region is a ''top priority'' for his group.

He says the commission has been working with a handful of ethanol production companies that have expressed some interest in the area.

Robinson declined comment on specific companies but did say if the projects come to fruition, the industries would bring large capital investments and create jobs.

"Alternative energy production is one of our targeted strategic plans for the county," Robinson said.

The key to any project is infrastructure, particularly gas and wastewater, he said.

"Infrastructure never lies," Robinson said. "Ethanol projects need water and wastewater and we are trying to deliver those infrastructure components to key industrial areas."

In Calhoun County, rumors circulated a few years ago about the pending arrival of an ethanol plant.

But Calhoun County Development Commission Executive Director Pat Black says much of the interest has tapered off.

"Ethanol fuel comes and goes with gas prices," he said. "When gas prices were up, talk about ethanol fuel was up. But when it goes back down, ethanol loses its flavor."

Black said the CCDC is always interested in attracting industry that will help the county with jobs and capital investment.

"Alternative fuels and ethanol production is one of the major and recurring issues in agriculture and economic development," Black said.

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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