By Josh Kastrinsky, Reporter-Times
MOORESVILLE - A Morgan County-based ethanol company has switched gears in an effort to use a fuel source seen by some as the ultimate destination for the biofuels market.
John Webster, a representative for Heartland Renewable Fuels LLC, said it has done feasibility studies and is focusing its production on green hardwood cellulose, a wood pulp fuel derived from sawdust and lumber industry byproducts.
In October, Webster announced the recently incorporated firm was doing studies to determine the likelihood of building an ethanol plant in or near Morgan County.
He said it got business offers from several sources when they announced plans for a corn ethanol plant, and they hope to find interest in their new idea.
Financial incentives used a few years ago to spur ethanol production have dried up, Morgan County commissioner Jeff Quyle said. Wood has been viewed as "the ultimate ethanol source," he said, because the sawdust used doesn't interfere with any other industry - for example, the way using corn drains the livestock feed supply.
Though corn supplies may not be plentiful enough to support the state's future ethanol production, other biofuel sources such as wood are readily available and are affordable, Webster said. But he added that there are far fewer sawmills than corn fields.
Further, extracting green hardwood cellulose is a difficult process, Webster said, one he hopes to work with Purdue University to improve upon.
Wood isn't the only plant source for cellulose, said Chris Parker of the Morgan County Purdue Extension office. Nor do wood supplies come only from sawmills, he said. Energy companies create usable waste when the companies clear roadsides for service, creating a viable resource.
He also said certain types of grass as well as corn stalks can be tapped for their benefits, a process that is a main focus of Purdue research.
The process of finding a viable process that can be mass-produced is still in its early stages, he said. "This is the future," he said. "The question is when that is - five years, 10 years?"