Ethanol: the wave of the future in Wayne & Pike?

By TOM KANE

HONESDALE, PA - The development of an ethanol plant, using farm products to produce alternate fuel for the cars of America, seems made to order for Wayne county.

Wayne has the farms, the corn and other agriculture products to make it happen. All it needs is some funding to get it started.

And that’s exactly what happened last week when the Wayne/Pike Farm Bureau announced that their application to the Department of Community and Economic Development for a $47,000 grant to conduct a feasibility study to investigate the matter was accepted and recommended for funding.

The study, which will be conducted by the Colorado-based BBI Industries, should be finished by summer. It will review possible site locations, infrastructure needs and transportation facilities, along with potential revenues and markets, public perceptions of a plant and availability of employees and amenities, which would contribute to the success of an ethanol plant in Wayne or Pike county.

The local farm organization acknowledges that alternative fuels will be the wave of the future and foresees agriculture’s role as a primary source in producing the fuel that will be needed by the American people.

“We are on the threshold of approximately 30 million people, all of which drive cars and require fuel,” said Dave Williams, spokesperson for the Wayne/Pike Farm Bureau. “They all contribute to an ethanol market area.”

An alternative fuel plant would generate new employment opportunities, bolster our railroad system and give farmers a new market to produce for, Williams said. “Opportunities for agriculture means keeping farms farming, maintaining open space and preserving farms for future generations,” said Ron Williams, Regional Director for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

Besides corn, other fibrous material can be used in the production of ethanol such as switch grass, wood chips and other cellulosic material. (Cellulose is a complex carbohydrate found in many plants.)

“Wayne County has 100,000 acres from which vegetative matter could be harvested to fuel the cellulosic production,” Williams said.

A lot of this land in Wayne is now lying fallow and is not being used for any production.

“The technology is changing very fast and it’s becoming cheaper and cheaper to make ethanol,” he said.

According to the ethanol website ((www.ethanol.com)), there are 97 existing ethanol refineries in the United States pumping at maximum capacity. Nine are expanding and an additional 35 plants are currently under construction. “There’s simply no way they can keep up with the surging demand for this alternative fuel,” the site said.

And if Williams has his way, this is a vision for the future for Wayne and Pike county and for agriculture.

“We want this plant. We need this plant. It needs to be locally owned by the community,” he said.