State lawmakers will begin debating today whether to authorize $50 million in incentives for a start-up company that hopes to create the next generation of biofuel to replace gasoline.
Lawmakers familiar with the project said the company is based in Texas and is expected to eventually open plants in other states. The company plans to start at several locations in Mississippi, each expected to employ about 50 people. Most of the projected 1,000 jobs would be created indirectly.
While Mississippi lacks the traditional energy resources of a Texas or Louisiana, officials are hoping to take advantage of the state's so-called biomass resources - plant matter or animal waste that can be used for fuel.
In 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Mississippi among the top five in the nation in biomass resources.
"Our goal is to develop products that could be delivered, and we would call it 'green gasoline' or 'green diesel,' " said Glenn Steele, director of Mississippi State University's Sustainable Energy Research Center, which is working with the yet unnamed company.
That green gasoline would work in cars and trucks and could be delivered through regular gas pumps, he said. "That's been one of our goals, and I think that's the goal of this company."
Both the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee are expected to meet this afternoon.
"Any project which promises to help meet our energy needs by producing a fuel which is more environmentally friendly and cost competitive is certainly very good," said Wilson Montjoy, an energy lawyer at the Butler Snow law firm. "One that additionally creates new investment and employment in Mississippi is even better."
Gov. Haley Barbour, who is holding a news conference at 2 p.m. today, has said the project would generate $85 million in wages and purchasing inside Mississippi.
MSU is one of a number of universities across the U.S. working on the next generation of biofuels, biomass and bioenergy. Among the others, the University of Tennessee is working with the same Oak Ridge National Laboratory that once created the atomic bomb to develop today's clean energy resources.
MSU has licensed a quick-growing grass known as giant miscantus that can be used for biomass.
What's attractive about these grasses, Steele said, is they are carbon neutral and they are renewable resources that can replace energy needs from other sources.
By 2025, Europe hopes to have 25 percent of its energy coming from renewable resources. More than half the states have voted to meet the same goal.
This green gasoline would be derived from timber, wood, grasses or other nonfood sources, Steele said.
"We're not going to replace all the petroleum," he said. "If we can replace maybe 10, 20 or 30 percent, that's a major dent. That's been the focus of our research."
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