Before the Obama administration demonstrated its commitment to new alternative energy sources through biotechnology and “green” technology, government scientists on the Treasure Coast were tinkering with potential sources.
But, with the president’s stimulus package offering $55 billion in spending and tax incentives for green technologies, including biofuels, and with his budget proposing $150 billion for clean energy investments, the pace of biofuel research on the Treasure Coast should rapidly pick up.
The green funding in the stimulus package alone is expected to create 3.5 million private sector jobs.
“If I had the green light, the budget and the authority, we’d pull out all the stops and gear up significantly into biofuel research,” said Calvin Arnold, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Horticulture Research Laboratory in St. Lucie County.
The lab primarily focuses on research on citrus, ornamental planets, vegetables and strawberries. But, scientists there have also been looking into biofuels as an offshoot of other projects.
“Biofuel is going to be a significant product on the Treasure Coast simply because the big players in agriculture production here are showing a high level of interest in it,” Arnold said. “What exactly the crops are going to be and how they’ll be processed still has to shake out.”
Research biologist Terence “T.J.” Evens, for example, has been studying the potential for algae to be a source for biofuel. Research plant pathologist Dan O. Chellemi has been researching sunflowers as a source.
The USDA lab is within the Treasure Coast Research and Education Park, which, for several years, has been identified as a major component to transitioning the area from the Treasure Coast to the Research Coast.
St. Lucie County commissioners want the park to be home to research and development efforts of alternative energy sources by private and private-public partnerships.
The biggest drawbacks to biofuel are production capabilities and cost-effective processing. But, in recent years, costs compared with oil have been going down.
The financial incentives for alternative energy are coming through, which could allow for job creation throughout the Treasure Coast, if grants and tax incentives are sought and obtained.
Beyond the immediate economic benefits are a reduction in dependence on foreign oil and less damage to the environment compared with carbon-based fuels.
The Treasure Coast may be in the right place at the right time to be a leader in biofuel and the production of other alternative energies. That could well be the foundation for the region’s short-term economic recovery and its long-term economic future.
© 2009 The E.W. Scripps Co.
