days 1, 2 and 4 of louisiana/brazil ethanol series

A Gannett NewspaperLafayette, Louisiana

Copyright 2007

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BATON ROUGE — Theelection of Bobby Jindal asLouisiana’s next governor hastaken a back seat in the CapitalCity to a much deeper issue —

“Beat ’Bama.”On Saturday, the LSU Tigers

will play Alabama, a contest

that many have waited forall season.

This week, it’s all aboutLSU vs. Nick Saban, acoach who led the Tigers to anational championship in 2003and then deserted them for thelure of the NFL to coach theMiami Dolphins. LSU fanscheered when the Dolphins lost.

Then Saban, often referredto in Tiger Country as NickSatan, did the unforgivable. Hesigned a contract to coach the

Marsha [email protected]

The UL System is one of 19across the country that haspledged to close the graduationgap that exists between low-income and minority studentsand their white peers.

The initiative — Access toSuccess — is ap a r t n e r s h i pbetween theN a t i o n a lAssociation ofSystem Headsand TheEducation Trust,a national non-profit.

Because numbers show thatgraduation rates among low-income and minority studentshave not kept pace with the col-lege-going rates for thosegroups of students, at least 19system heads, includingUniversity of LouisianaSystem President SallyClausen, have signed on to theinitiative.

It means they’ll be measur-ing their progress and report-ing some information that hasnever been made public before— like the progress of theirlow-income students.

The graduation rate ofblack students is nearly halfthat of white students, andLatino students graduate at arate that’s nearly a third of thewhite student population, saidNASH President TomMeredith, who also leads theMississippi Institutions ofHigher Learning.

The graduation rates oflow-income students are esti-mated to be even dimmer.

“Students from high-incomefamilies are eight times morelikely to earn a college degree,”Meredith said.

The initiative’s goal is to cutthe graduation gap in half by2015.

Those goals complementthe UL System’s existing aspi-rations to improve its gradua-tion rates — but sooner, by2012.

During a conference callannouncing the NASH and

Programtargetslow gradnumbers

Bob [email protected]

t was 1986, andLouisiana’sethanol futurelooked bright.

We madeethanol with sug-arcane molasses — 32 million gallonsworth — andmixed it to make

319 million gallons of“gasohol,” more than anyyear before. The state wasexpected to lead thenation’s budding ethanolindustry.

Burned by the world oilcrunch in the 1970s, theUnited Statesgave taxbreaks to anethanolindustry inits infancy,hoping toeliminate thecountry’sreliance on foreign oil.Farmers considered it asaving grace, and sixplants across the statewere planned to turn cornand cane into fuel. Up to 18more were expected with-in the decade.

But that was then.In the long run,

Louisiana and the nationbegan backing away fromthe promise of renewablefuels as soon as oil gotcheaper — and let a wob-bly-kneed ethanol industryfall before it could find itslegs. Louisiana erased itssubsidies in 1989 that con-vinced investors to roll thedice, and the state’sethanol future was gone.

Now, the U.S. is back to

Ethanol grows upPast failurescast shadowover futureof biofuel

The rusted remains of an ethanol plant outside Jeanerette on U.S. Route 90 cast a haunting reminder

of Louisiana’s burgeoning hopes for producing biofuel from sugar cane.

P.C. Piazza/[email protected]

Lafayette resident Dailey Berard led the investment team for

Agrifuels ethanol plant and wastewater treatment facility in New

Iberia in the 1980s. The mill, seen in the photo Berard is holding,

opened in 1986 and ran for one day before closing forever.

• Go to theadvertiser.com/ethanol for photos and more information •

■ Today: Louisiana’sethanol past■ Friday: U.S. sugar struggles;Brazil succeeds■ Saturday: Brazil’s ethanoleconomy■ Sunday: Louisiana’sethanol future

FOLLOWTHIS SERIES

Claudia B. Laws/[email protected]

See RIVALRY on Page 4A

Theriot

More than 160ethanol plants wereopen around the coun-try by the mid-1980s. In1982, 9,000 gas stationsin the U.S. had sold 234million gallons of gaso-hol (gasoline with a 10percent ethanol mix).

But oil prices fellquickly by 1986 andethanol producers wereknocked flat. Later thatyear, only 74 of 163ethanol mills in the U.S.were still open.

ETHANOL:WHY DID IT FAIL?

See ETHANOL on Page 6A

Clausen

Lower-incomestudents havemore obstacles

UL System

See PROGRAM on Page 4A

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Les Miles

I

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Reviled Sabannow the objectof LSU fans’ ire

Thursday, November 1, 2007 theadvert iser.com 50 cents ★

Rivalry fans flames

Alabama coach

Nick Saban

square one, importing 65 per-cent of its oil from foreignsources, a supply that growsmore expensive each day.Meanwhile, Brazil, whichstuck to its 1970s plan to createan ethanol industry, no longerneeds foreign oil.

Led by the success ofMidwestern corn farmers, theU.S. is moving toward ethanolagain.

Louisiana, too, sees the pos-sibility of restarting a biofuelsindustry, but the state mustavoid mistakes of the past.

Ethanol to the rescueDecades ago, ethanol was

embraced in Louisiana to savethe struggling sugarcaneindustry.

By the late 1970s, the priceof world sugar was declining,local farmers lost their profitmargins and five sugar millsclosed in South Louisiana,said Jason Theriot, a native ofNew Iberia and doctoral candi-date at the University ofHouston specializing in ener-gy and environmental history.

“Saving sugar cane wasgoal No. 1,” he said. “If ithelped the nation reduce oilimports, that, as we say, waslagniappe.”

The state Legislaturepassed several laws in 1979 tokick-start a program mixing10 percent ethanol into gaso-line. Louisiana’s 8 cent motorfuel tax was erased for gaso-hol, and with the federal 4 centtax exemption, as well, ninecompanies announcedLouisiana ethanol plans.

The subsidy package alonewas enough to attract privateinvestors to ethanol, Theriotsaid. Louisiana’s gasohol taxexemption in 1985 was $28 mil-lion, the largest exemption inthe U.S.

Louisiana ethanol plantsfirst ran in 1985, and canemolasses, a byproduct of thenormal sugar extraction, was

the only feedstock used.Cane farmers reaped a $5.3

million increase in the price ofmolasses, according to reportsfrom the LouisianaDepartment of NaturalResources. The budding gaso-

hol industry created 178 newjobs that year.

Part of a national planThe industry was also

helped by a major infusion offederal dollars.

Squeezed by a MiddleEastern oil embargo in 1973and a national recession,President Jimmy Carter creat-ed the Department of Energyin 1977 to find an alternativeenergy solution. To do that,

the DOE used $1 billion inloan guarantees to financethree major U.S. ethanolplants — one of which was inNew Iberia.

Built in 1986, the $107 mil-lion Agrifuels Iberia ParishEthanol Plant was 10 years inthe making by local oilfieldfabricator Dailey Berard and ateam of investors.

It was considered a cutting-edge project on the nationallevel, would produce 100,000gallons of ethanol per day forLouisiana, and would changeregional cane farming forever.Three other Agrifuels plantswere proposed for the state,pending success of the first.

“For years farmers hadbeen using bagasse (a fibrouspulp leftover from cane aftersugar extraction) to makethings like paper, buildingmaterials, animal feed andeven oilfield mud products,”Theriot said. “Agrifuels’ planwas to use bagasse to run therefinery. It would use no natu-ral gas, no petroleum ...Agrifuels in New Iberia was 20years ahead of its time.”

A dozen or so sugar millsand 200 local cane farmerswere on board to provide themolasses and grow sweetsorghum, a crop with highsugar content that takes one-third the time to grow ascane, could be planted dur-

ing fallow months and har-vested with a farmer’s samecane equipment.

But a day after the plantturned on its lights the statecut its tax incentive — thesame incentive that other fin-anciers banked on when devel-oping their plans forLouisiana ethanol. Agrifuelscouldn’t produce a drop.

A bitter endDanny Viator, a Youngsville

cane farmer, planted sorghumthe season leading up toAgrifuel’s opening, andremembers the excitementover a crop that could keepcane land profitable year-round.When Agrifuels closed, farm-ers involved felt hung out to dry.

“At the end of the day wewere worried if we’d even getpaid,” Viator said. “I think wecovered our expenses andmade a few dollars.”

The smaller federal tax breakwas maintained for gasohol. Itwas the state, Berard said, thatset itself and nine completedethanol plants up for failure.

Former Gov. EdwinEdwards doubled the state taxexemption from eight cents to16 cents in 1984 to speed up theethanol mill infrastructure.

It was far more thaninvestors needed, Berard said.Rumors still are whisperedtoday of Edwards’ personalprofit through oil refineriesthat got the tax break.

“I didn’t then, and don’tnow, trust Louisiana govern-ment as far as I can throwthem,” he said.

A Department of NaturalResources report estimatedLouisiana lost $9.6 million in1985 with the gasohol subsidy.

The Legislature also onlyappropriated $52 million forsubsidies in 1986-87. The mills

operating then qualified for$66 million, and if all the millscertified at that time were pro-ducing ethanolat full capacity,they’d have need-ed $217 million.There was neverenough money inthe pot.

Oil pricesstarted decliningin 1982, and when it hit $10 perbarrel in mid-1986 nationalrefiners no longer needed tocut gasoline with ethanolbecause it was cheap enoughagain on its own.

Learning from mistakesEthanol’s current revival

has a better shot on thenational and local level thistime because of environmen-tal mandates, dwindling oildiscoveries and more privateinvestment.

In 1999, some states beganbanning MTBE, a petroleum-based additive in gasoline,after the toxic substanceshowed up in drinking water.The Environmental ProtectionAgency recommended it bebanned nationally in 2000, andnow about 25 states are doingso, with more to follow. It’sallowing ethanol demand togrow about 50 percent just tofill MTBE’s role as an octanebooster.

Louisiana’s Legislaturepassed a law in 2006 mandat-ing a 2 percent mix of ethanoland biodiesel in fuels sold inthe state, once Louisianaplants start producing a mini-mum amount of green fuel.

New oil discoveries world-wide are projected by many topeak around 2037 and notrebound again. The 1980sshowed that ethanol needs aconsistently high oil price tostabilize and become competi-tive, Theriot said.

And for Louisiana canefarmers and sugar mill opera-tors to jump in again, theymay need some incentive tosell molasses for local ethanolinstead of its other marketslike animal feed, which cur-rently pay more.

Tommy Thibodeaux, gener-al manager of the CajunSugar Cooperative sugar millin New Iberia, pumps extravitamins into his potassium-rich molasses and gets 51 centsper gallon to feed cattle in theMidwest.

It’ll be hard for theLacassine Ethanol Plant,which should start construc-tion this summer and be run-ning by October 2008, to matchthat price for molasses, he said.

But Thibodeaux believed inethanol’s purpose as hewatched Agrifuels New Iberiabe built in the 1980s, and saidit’s even more important nowfor the U.S. to get off foreign oiland help sugar cane farmerssurvive long-term. He’d sell atleast 20 percent of his molassesat a lower price to help anethanol plant establish itself.

“It’ll have to be proven, andthen we’ll be involved forsure,” he said. “We’ll have tobe, because our survival willbe in biofuels — it just dependson who can last until then.”

theadvert iser.com6A • The Advert iser Thursday, Nov. 1, 2007

One of the country’s premier professional engineering corporations, Associated Design Group, Inc., is

celebrating 25 years of partnering with local providers to provide excellence in healthcare in Acadiana –

and we’d like to thank these organizations for their confidence in our capabilities.

Over the past quarter century, we were fortunate enough to provide mechanical and electrical

engineering solutions to some of themost prestigious hospitals in our area, including Lafayette General

Medical Center, Opelousas General Health System and Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center.

Beginning in 1981, we worked on over 250 different projects with Lafayette General Medical Center.

Some of these projects include the $18 million Pavilion for Women and Children, additions and

renovations to the emergency power distribution systems, fire alarm and extinguishing systems, the

addition and renovation of the Emergency Department, Heart Catheterization Lab, patient floors and

elevator towers, Radiology and BRACC imaging units.

At Opelousas General Health System, we partnered on over 120 projects, including the new $26 million

Emergency Department and Medical Office Building. Since 1981, we helped with the engineering of a

three-story professional building, implemented energy conservation system improvements, redesigned

the air conditioning system of the hospital’s operating rooms, and multiple other expansion and

renovation projects, including a new parking garage.

We are excited to be asked to work on over 250 projects with Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical

Center. Some of the work included additions and renovations to the St. Mary’s Office Building, the

Fitzsimmons Building, hospital surgical suites, Human Resources offices and a new facility maintenance

building. We have been involved in master planning efforts throughout the campus involving repairs

and upgrades to the primary heating and cooling systems and central plant operations.

The management and employees of Associated Design Group, Inc. enjoy the opportunity to work with

these great facilities and we look forward to continuing our work with these premier healthcare

providers for the next quarter century.

LAFAYETTE OFFICE 114 Toledo Dr. | Lafayette, LA 70506 | P: 337-234-5710F: 337-237-1467 | adginc.org | [email protected]

25 Years of Partnering With MedicalProviders to Make Acadiana Healthier!

SUPPORT ACADIANA HEALTHCARE PROVIDERSTHAT SUPPORT ACADIANA COMPANIES.

Continued from Page 1A

Ethanol

The Agrifuels ethanol plant and wastewater treatment facility in New Iberia opened in 1986 and ran for one day

before closing forever.

Youngsville farmer Daniel Viator grew sorghum many years ago leading up to

the Agrifuels opening. He now grows sugar cane.

Thibodeaux

Photo courtesy of Dailey Berard

SPECIAL REPORT ON ETHANOL IN SATURDAY’S EDITIONThe Daily Advertiser’s

Bob Moser takes a look

at how investment in

ethanol has paid off for

Brazil and what lessons

that success holds for

our local economy.

For more on

information

on ethanol, go to

theadvertiser.com/ethanol.

Advertiser file photo/Claudia B. Laws

Fr iday, November 2, 2007 theadvert iser.com 50 cents ★


Copyright 2007

District log jam muddlesprep playoff scenarios

Prep editor Kevin Footepeers deep into his crystalball to untangle the possibili-ties of the high school footballpostseason. Page 1D

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Kevin Foote and BradyAymond preview tonight’smatchups in our online-exclu-sive video, Inside Prep Football,at theadvertiser.com.

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Voting ends Monday forDecember’s Cover Cutie

Time is running out tovote for your favorite CoverCutie at AcadianaMoms.com. Followthe “CoverCutie” linkand vote asoften asyou’d like forwho you’d like to see on the December cover ofAcadiana Moms magazine.

Plan your weekend funwith Weekend Accent

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The 2006-07 fiscal yearended this week, and new con-struction in Lafayette didn’tjust break previous records, itshattered them.

The year-end total is about$494 million, more than $176million higher than last year,according toinformation fromL a f a y e t t eE c o n o m i cD e v e l o p m e n tAuthority andL a f a y e t t eC o n s o l i d a t e dGovernment.

Residential and commercialdevelopers are said to be focus-ing on the Acadiana region totake advantage of GO Zone

incentives, and the rapidgrowth Lafayette has experi-enced following hurricanesKatrina and Rita.

“With construction projectsspread across the parish,everyone stands to benefitfrom this growth,” said GreggGothreaux, LEDA presidentand CEO, in a news statementThursday. “You can’t go farwithout seeing a constructionsite, and with one year left toqualify for GO Zone incen-tives, you are seeing a flurry ofconstruction activity in the

parish as businesses rush to bein service by the December2008 deadline.”

Higher costs for buildingmaterials have contributed to the higher construction

valuations, but an increasein the number of permitsissued for new residentialand commercial projects are apart of the $176 millionincrease.

New construction up $176M

Kyle [email protected]

A former Lafayette MiddleSchool teacher is in jail alongwith her sister after beingfound guilty Thursday eveningfor chaining and tying up a

then-12-year-old boy more thantwo years ago to a bed.

Judge Kristian Earles deliv-ered a verdict ofguilty againstCharni Dodson,60, and her sisterEllen Carle, 59,after deliberat-ing for 15 to 20minutes. Dodsonwas convicted ontwo counts of cruelty to juve-niles and one count of falseimprisonment. Carle was con-

victed of principal to cruelty tojuveniles, false imprisonmentbut was found not guilty ofsimple battery.

The two waived their rightto a jury trial so the case wasdecided by Earles.

“We respectfully disagreewith the judge’s decision,”said Clayton Burgess,Dodson’s attorney.

Earlier in the trialThursday, Earles did acquitCarles and Dodson each on onecount of false imprisonment

and obstruction of justicebecause of the prosecution notmeeting their burden of proofat that early point in the trial.

Shortly after the verdict

Glenn [email protected]

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. —Maybe everything that is hap-pening this week has just beentoo much for Alabama coachNick Saban to take.

His former school — thatwould be LSU — arrives intown today. Thefootball team ishere to play one ofthe most antici-pated gamesof LSU’s sea-son, againstS a b a n ’ sCrimson Tide.

The teamcomes withnearly 30kids hes i g n e d .That’s 30families hek n o w s .He’s beenin most ofthose liv-ing rooms.W r i t e r sand televi-sion sportscasters he workedwith while at LSU from 2000-04have been in town all week.He’s been looking at film ofMatt Flynn and Early Doucet,two kids who were part of No. 1recruiting classes in 2003 and2004.

Doucet was still atSt. Martinville High inJanuary 2004 when he went toan LSU basketball game andwalked over to watch a pressconference. Saban announcedhe wasn’t going to the ChicagoBears to be the coach; he wasstaying. Doucet applauded. Ayear later, Saban was gone.

Sabandefendsstrangejourney

Ex-teacher, sister guilty of abuse


fter four years ofcrippling drought,freeze and hurri-canes, Louisiana’ssugarcane farmersare celebrating anear-perfect 2007

crop, fed merely by goodrain and the absence ofdisaster.

Louisiana keeps evolv-ing with new cane breedsand technology, producingmore sugar with fewer

farmers compared todecades ago. It’s the state’sNo. 1 row crop, generatingmore than $500 million oftotal value in 2006 with27,000 jobs directly tied in.

But today’s success will

be short-lived, most farm-ers and mill owners agree,unless the industry takesthe next step and finds aplace for cane in the futureof U.S. ethanol.

If farmers just keep sell-

ing sugar, well, “we’ll all beout of business,” said TommyThibodeaux, general manag-er of Cajun Sugar Cooper-ative sugar mill in New Iberia.

A strategy for survival


Early risers on the Duplantis family farm toil under the watercolor skies of a South Louisiana morning during a recent sugarcane harvest. With

Mexican sugar tariffs set to expire in January, some Louisiana sugarcane farmers believe that diversification of U.S. sugar production —

geared toward food and fuel — will be the only way to ensure the industry’s survival.

Higher costscontribute to$494M total

Sentencing set for Jan. 7;appeals pending

Photos by P.C. Piazza/[email protected]

Sugarcane harvester driver Jimmy Hernandez keeps a close eye on

his cutter during one of the best yields in recent memory.

The top-five commercial projects are apartment com-plexes and two other apart-ment projects are in the top10. These seven projectsalone total $82 million and

will add 1,424 units toLafayette’s tight apartmentmarket (more than 95 percentoccupancy).

SOURCE: Lafayette EconomicDevelopment Authority

Apartments top list of Lafayette building projects

■ Today: U.S. sugar struggles;Brazil succeeds■ Saturday: Brazil’s ethanoleconomy■ Sunday: Louisiana’sethanol futureVisit www.theadvertiser.com/ethanol for stories eachday, an interactive mapof sugar and biofuels inLouisiana, and audio photoslideshows from Brazil.

FOLLOWTHIS SERIES

Farmers wantgame plan fordiversification

Brazilian model for success offers hope for La. farmers

Advertiser file photo/Leslie Westbrook

See SURVIVAL on Page 4A

A

Gothreaux

Dodson

See GUILTY on Page 8A

TALK BACKDo you agreewith the judge’sverdict? Click on “Story Chat”and tell us what you think.

@theadvertiser

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INSIDE SPORTS

When: 4 p.m. Saturday

TV: CBS (Cox cable 11)

Saban makes impact, Page 1D

Follow LSU throughout the

season at theadvertiser.com/tigerfootball. Find

updates, stats and fan chat.

Alabama coachtries to stayabove the fray

See SABAN on Page 8A

AP file photo

Alabama coach

Nick Saban said

he regretted

leaving the col-

lege ranks to

coach in the NFL.

theadvert iser.com4A • The Advert iser Fr iday, Nov. 2, 2007


Foreign sugar is the newfear. A tariff on Mexicanimports disappears inJanuary, and some Louisianacane growers say they’ll bedoomed if they don’t diversi-fy and make U.S. cane aboutenergy and food.

A record 4.85 billion gal-lons of ethanol was producedby the U.S. in 2006, passingBrazil as the world leader bymashing 18 percent of ourthird-largest corn harvestinto fuel. Louisiana cornacreage more than doubledlast year in the northernparishes, and two ethanolplants planned in LakeProvidence hope to capital-ize.

But those in the sugarindustry know that if theprice is right, cane can beeight times better than cornfor ethanol.

For inspiration, they needonly look to Brazil, where theworld’s first major economyhas been built aroundethanol made from sugarcane.

Country run on caneBrazil has led the world in

ethanol for almost 30 years,and has the soil, climate andexperience to do ethanol bet-ter than almost anyone.

When a 1973 OPEC oilembargo sent the world intocrisis, Brazil was importingclose to 80 percent of its fuel.The country had usedethanol in limited ways sincethe 1920s, but in 1975 then-dictator Gen. Ernesto Geiselcommitted to breaking hisnation’s foreign oil addiction.

Sugar mills were givenquotas to make ethanol,heavy subsidies went intonew refineries and vehicles,and the state-owned oil com-pany, Petrobras, had to sell itat almost every fuel stationin Brazil. By the mid-1980s,consumers bought ethanol-only cars almost exclusively,drawn by tax breaks and thebiofuel’s low price.

“While we’ve spent all thismoney on wars and protect-ing oil, in Brazilthey spent it oninfrastructure,buildingethanol upsince the ’70s,”said Thibodeaux,who has visitedBrazilian sugarand ethanol mills during thepast two years. “They subsi-dized the ethanol mills andhelped them through debt.Now, they’re all very flexibleand developing the industry.”

As the 1990s neared, oilprices dropped while worldsugar demand grew.Brazilian mills focused onjust sugar, abandoning anethanol-only populace thathad become reliant on thehome-grown fuel.

In 2003 auto engineersdebuted “flex-fuel” enginesthat could run on ethanol,gasoline, or any mix of thetwo. Brazilians felt safe withhaving fuel choice, and noweight in 10 new vehicles soldare flex. Ethanol makes upalmost 40 percent of all non-diesel fuel used in cars, thecountry leads the world inethanol export and plans todouble sugar cane acreagewithin a decade.

“Customers really believein the (flex) market now,”said Maroio Demenis, man-ager of Itacolomy Vehicles, aChevy dealership in SãoPaulo, Brazil. “With sugarcane, we’re not going to runout of alcohol.”

‘It’ll save the sugarindustry’

Bob Odom, Louisiana’soutgoing commissioner ofAgriculture and Forestry, isalso the state’s biggestethanol cheerleader. Whenhis department buys a newvehicle he makes sure it’s aflex-fuel, and he’s adamantabout cane farmers produc-ing energy in the future tosupplement their sugar prof-its.

“What will ethanol do?”Odom asks. “It’ll save the

sugar industry, that’s whatit’ll do.”

Odom got the ball rollingin 2003, financ-ing a new syrupmill inLacassine withdepartmentfunds that camefrom state gam-bling revenue.He traveled toSão Paulo to visit ethanoland sugar producers beforedeciding how to build it.

“I like him very much, alot of energy in that man,”said Luiz Biagi, co-owner ofRenk Zanini-Sermatec, a SãoPaulo-basedmanufacturerthat made partsfor theLacassinesyrup mill. “Hewants to changethings.”

Critics ofOdom have toreinto his support forLacassine and ethanol, cry-ing misappropriation of statefunds and derailing hisefforts to build anothersyrup mill in Bunkie.Odom’s response has been lit-tle more than a shrug, andhe’s moved full-steam aheadin supporting biofuels.

“We spend less than 10 percent of our nation’smoney on food, that’s lowestin the world,” Odom said.“For us to keep doing thatand getting that from ourfarmers, they need a way tomake money. Ethanol is it.”

Lacassine’s syrup millwas built specifically for anethanol plant to go up besideit, turning the syrup ormolasses into fuel. Odomsold it to a group of nearbycane farmers, who broughton a private partner, AndinoEnergy, which now has 80percent ownership.

Together, they sayLouisiana Green Fuels, thefirst sugar cane-basedethanol plant in the U.S.,should be built in spring 2008

and be running by thatOctober’s harvest.

Cane better than cornBrazil’s tropical climate

for sugar cane was a maindraw for Portuguese settlersin the 1500s. Most of thesugar and ethanol comesfrom São Paulo state, heart ofthe nation’s southeast. Herecrimson-red soil rich innutrients sprouted theregion’s nickname as “theplace where anythinggrows.”

Ethanol now fills about athird of auto-fuel demand,based around cane feedstockthat’s cheaper to grow thancorn, yields twice as muchfuel per acre and createsalmost eight gallons ofethanol for every one gallonof petroleum used (whilecorn’s ratio is just abovebreak-even).

A corn kernel’s starchmust break down into sugarsbefore it’s fermented intoalcohol, a process that needsenergy. But with cane, thatstep is skipped.The stalkalready is 20 percent to 30 percentsugar, andstarts ferment-ing right afterits cut in thefield.

Sugar andethanol millsburn thestalk’s leftoverpulpy fiber,called bagasse,turning turbines to generateelectricity for the mill andeven selling extra to a localgrid. They recycle potassium-rich wastewater back to thefields, fueling the next roundof 10-foot-high cane thatregrows six times before newplanting is needed.

It adds up to about 22cents for a liter of Brazil’ssugar cane-ethanol, compared

with 30 cents for U.S. corn-ethanol and 53 cents for beet-based ethanol made inEurope. And unlike produc-ers in U.S. and Europe,Brazilian ethanol no longerleans on federal subsidies forsupport.

U.S. sugar in fluxIn today’s U.S. sugar mar-

ket, mills profit more frommaking sugar than theywould alcohol. The govern-ment’s complexsugar policylimits howmuch the U.S.grows and howmuch itimports, bal-ancing the sup-ply to keepprices herehigher than much of theworld. In Brazil, cane growsso cheaply that subsidies areminimal, and alcohol is moreprofitable as domestic andworld demand for fuel grows.

About 70 percent ofethanol’s cost is its feed-

stock, and corn is one of thecheapest crops grown in theU.S. The government subsi-dizes corn growers, so theycan afford to sell their prod-uct for less. Louisiana’scorn production jumpedfrom 305,000 acres in 2006 to750,000 acres this year, butit’s still a minimal part ofstate agriculture.

“If corn had the samekind of price support

income that sugar had,corn prices would be muchhigher than they alreadyare,” said Mike Salassi,professor of agricultureeconomics at LSU, and co-author of a 2006 USDAstudy on the U.S. potentialfor ethanol from sugarcane. “So, the price supportprogram for corn indirectlysubsidizes a corn ethanolindustry because it’s allow-ing corn prices to be lowerthan if they had a differenttype of program.”

As trade globalizes andU.S. sugar policies change,mills may find more profit

makingethanol fromcane syrup ifsugar camecheaper fromsomeone else.

NAFTAmay make thatpossible. InJanuary 2008,a U.S. tariff, ortax, onMexicanimportedsugar willexpire. Someworry that

Mexico could dump itsexcess sugar in the U.S. at aprice local farmers can’tcompete with, Salassi said.

The new Farm Bill nowbeing fine-tuned inCongress may include aplan for the government tobuy excess U.S. sugar at astandard price and resell itfor less to ethanol produc-ers. Midwestern ethanolplants say they can’t use

much sugar in theirprocess meant for corn.But ethanol plants inLouisiana and Floridausing sugar cane for fuelcould benefit.

Ten Louisiana sugarmills have a plan to competewith Mexican imports forthe time being.

They’ve formed a cooper-ative, named SUGAR, andgone in 50/50 with one ofthe world’s largest agricul-tural companies, Cargill, tobuild a new white sugarrefinery near New Orleans.

“We’re simply copyingBrazil,” said Thibodeaux ofCajun Sugar, a co-op leader.“If we’re going to survive —farmers, mills and refiner-ies — the marriage has tobe from the field to theshelf.”

Cargill’s influence onmarkets like candy, food anddrinks provides a huge cus-tomer base all the wayalong a cheap transportroute — the MississippiRiver. The waterway canhelp them compete withimported-sugar prices.

“This new refinery isjust to survive long enoughfor ethanol,” Thibodeauxsaid. The SUGAR co-op andCargill are already eyeingan ethanol plant in NewIberia in a few years, butthere’d be little profit fromturning sugar cane into fuelright now.

“We have to look atwhat’s right economicallyfor sugar in Louisiana.”


Survival

Workers prepare fallen sugar cane for harvest recently at the Costa Pinto Mill in Piracicaba, Brazil.

Photo courtesy of Marcelo Min/Agéncia Fotogaraffa

As of fall 2007, there were10 sites that have receivedpermits for ethanol or biodieselplants in Louisiana.

■ Company: Louisiana GreenFuels, LLC (80 percent ownedby Andino Energy, and 20 per-cent by Lake Charles CaneFarmers Co-Op)■ Facility: Lake Charles CaneEthanol Plant■ City: Lacassine■ Parish: Jefferson Davis■ Status: to begin construc-tion in summer 2008■ Capacity: 22.4 million gal-lons per year

❐ ❐ ❐■ Company: Verenium (for-merly Celunol)■ Facility: Cellulosic PilotPlant (open since 1999),Cellulosic Demonstration Plant(under construction)■ City: Jennings■ Parish: Jefferson Davis■ Status: Demonstrationplant expected to open early2008. ■ Capacity: A 1.4-million gal-lon per year facility, it's meantto test the cellulosic processand give Verenium a model tobase all its other commercial-scale cellulosic plants off of,which they should build else-where by 2010.

❐ ❐ ❐■ Company: South LouisianaEthanol, LLC (had entered50/50 agreement with EarthBiofuels, Inc., out of Texas)■ Facility: Ethanol Plant(refurbishing of 1980s ethanolplant still standing)■ City: Belle Chasse■ Parish: Plaquemines■ Status: Permitted, refur-bishing project on hold whileEarth Biofuels faces legalaction■ Capacity: At least 65 mil-lion gallons per year, likelycorn feedstock

❐ ❐ ❐■ Company: Bionol LakeProvidence LLC (subsidiary ofBioEnergy International, locat-ed in Mass.)■ Facility: Bionol LakeProvidence■ City: Lake Providence■ Parish: East Carroll■ Status: Permitted, founda-tion being laid in fall 2007,construction to begin inDecember and completion 18-20 months after. ■ Capacity: 108 million gal-lons per year, corn feedstockfrom nearby parishes and cornshipments off of MississippiRiver.

❐ ❐ ❐■ Company: Tiger StateEthanol, LLC (based in Monroe)■ Facility: St James EthanolFacility■ City: Convent

■ Parish: St. James■ Status: permitted, waitingfor GO Zone approval fromstate bond commission■ Capacity: 110 million gal-lon per year, corn feedstock,predict 50 percent will be localcorn, the rest off ofMississippi River.

❐ ❐ ❐■ Company: Tiger StateEthanol, LLC (based inMonroe)■ Facility: Lake ProvidenceEthanol Facility■ City: Lake Providence■ Parish: East Carroll■ Status: permitted■ Capacity: 110 million gal-lons per year, corn feedstock,predict 80 percent will beLouisiana corn, the rest off ofMississippi River.

❐ ❐ ❐■ Company: Greater BatonRouge Ethanol LLC (subsidiaryof Baton Rouge-based TheShaw Capital)■ Facility: Greater BatonRouge Ethanol Facility (fromcorn)■ City: Port Allen■ Parish: West Baton Rouge■ Status: permitted ■ Capacity: Approved formore than 1 million gallonsper year, corn feedstock

❐ ❐ ❐■ Company: Allegro BiodieselCorporation■ Facility: Allegro PollockBiodiesel Refinery■ City: Pollock■ Parish: Grant■ Status: Began productionin April 2006■ Capacity: 12 million gal-lons per year, now producingabout 4 million gallons fromrefined and crude soybean oil.

❐ ❐ ❐■ Company: Green EarthFuels of New Orleans, LLC(subsidiary of Green EarthFuels in Houston)■ Facility: Green Earth Fuelsof New Orleans (biodieselrefinery)■ City: Harvey■ Parish: Jefferson■ Status: permits and financ-ing being finalized■ Capacity: Unknown, flexibleon feedstocks to use forbiodiesel.

❐ ❐ ❐■ Company: RenewableEnergy Group Inc. (based inIowa)■ Facility: REG New OrleansBiodiesel Plant■ City: St. Rose■ Parish: St. Charles■ Status: constructiongroundbreaking in June 2007(expect to start productionsecond quarter of 2008)■ Capacity: 60 million gal-lons per year, oil seed feed-stock provider less than twomiles away.

Biagi

Odom

Salassi

Thibodeaux

PLANNED BIOFUELSITES IN LOUISIANA

In the big picture, sugar cane is less than5 percent of Brazil’s agribusiness. It’s theworld leader in soybean exports, provides 80percent of the world’s orange juice and is aleader in beef and chicken exports, accord-ing to federal government statistics.

“We’ve done great things here in Brazil,but we’re lousy marketers,” said Rui LacerdaFerraz, president of Crystalsev, which announced a part-nership in August with U.S.-based Dow Chemical to makeflexible plastics from ethanol in Brazil. “It’s really the countrywith the greatest resources, but no one knows about it.”

IT’S MORE THAN JUST SUGAR CANE

Feedstock costs 0.40 1.48 0.91 0.30Processing costs 0.63 0.92 0.36 0.51Total cost 1.03 2.40 1.27 0.81

SOURCE: The Economic Feasibility of Ethanol Production for Sugar in the United States, July 2006 USDA report

COST ITEM U.S. corn U.S. sugar cane U.S. molasses Brazil sugar cane

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Churches honor soulsSee photos from local

services. Page 2AFor more photos from

area All Souls events,click on Photo Galleries attheadvertiser.com.

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Jason [email protected]

NEW IBERIA — Navy offi-cials arrived in Iberia Parishon Friday afternoon to inves-tigate exactly what wentwrong with a training jet thatcrashed at the AcadianaRegional Airport onThursday night.

The crash occurred at

about 6:45 p.m. and involved aT-45A Goshak single enginetraining jet, one of three trav-eling from the Florida Coastback to the Naval Air Stationin Kingsville, Texas.

The jets had stopped at theairport to refuel following afleet carrier landing practicein Florida.

Once airborne again, oneof the jets is believed to haveexperienced a malfunction ofsome sort and both its pilot

and co-pilot apparently lostcontrol and were forced toeject from its cabin.

Ana RadelatGannett News Service

WASHINGTON — PresidentBush’s veto of a $23 billionwater projects bill Friday wasblasted by members ofLouisiana’s congressional del-egation, which had many stateprojects in the legislation.

“This is thewrong bill to tryto reclaim themantle of fiscalresponsibility,”said U.S. Sen.Mary Landrieu,D-New Orleans.

The waterresources measure, which

would authorize spending onhundreds of Army Corps ofEngineer projects across thenation, includes$2 billion forcoastal restora-tion work, $131million to deepenthe Port of Iberiaand protectVermilion Parishfrom stormsurges and billions to repairNew Orleans’ levees.

Navyinitiatescrashreview

The U.S. Navy has opened an investigation into why a T-45A jet crashed

Thursday at the end of the runway of the Acadiana Regional Airport in

New Iberia. Both the pilot and co-pilot ejected safely.

Brad Kemp/[email protected]

See CRASH on Page 4A See BUSH on Page 4A

Bush nixes billionsin water projects

Bush

Landrieu

The House is expected to vote to override the billTuesday and the Senate couldact Wednesday. In rare una-nimity, all Louisiana lawmakersare expected to vote to over-ride the veto.

What’s next?


As Louisiana’s buddingethanol hopes gain steam,cynicism over past failureshere could derail progress.But we don’t have to rein-vent the wheel.

Brazil is a sugarcaneMecca, supporting its ownenergy needs and economy

since the mid-1970s by pro-ducing ethanol.

Inside today’s Advertiser,we take you on a tour of SãoPaulo state, heart of Brazil’ssoutheastern “cane country”and home to some of the

most progressive plans forsugarcane ethanol’s future.

Our special sectionshows you Ribeirão Preto, acity that boomed thanks tobiofuels in much the sameway that Lafayette has fromoil and gas.

Learn how ethanol in theU.S. now creates more jobsin rural areas than anyother economic activity.

Fueling Louisiana’s future

Training jet hadrough landingin New Iberia

Herman [email protected]

Traffic jams are as rare as

snowflakes in Leonville, a St. Landry Parish town with a pinch more than 1,000 residents. But a blizzard of

horses, cars, campers and zydeco dancers have traditionally hit the village

during the first weekend inNovember.

That’s Step-N-Strut TrailRide weekend, a music andhorse riding event now at theold Evangeline Downs race-track in Carencro.

Tradition hits the trail• Inside today’s edition: The sweet life, Page 1D • theadvertiser.com/ethanol •

■ Today: Brazil’sethanol economy■ Sunday: La.’sethanol future

FOLLOWTHIS SERIES

PHOTOGALLERYTo see morephotos from the Navy training jetcrash in New Iberia, click on thisstory’s headline.

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Huey Wafer of Houston brings water for his horse, Cool Whip, as he sets up for the Step-N-Strut Trail Ride event Friday at the former Evangeline Downs

site in Carencro. Step-N-Strut is an annual event that features horseback riding and zydeco music.

Claudia B. Laws/[email protected]

Signature event’s organizers saythousands expected to attend

See TRADITION on Page 4A

La. delegationstands united incondemnation

Eight-page special section inside today’s edition

Zydeco Trail Rides

Festival schedule and infor-mation. Page 4A

Inside today

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Photo galleries captureweekend of family fun

Relive the fun and festivi-ties from the Blackpot Festival& Cook-off, the Step-N-Strutzydeco trail ride, the CajunCup run, the Marquis de LaFayette Veterans Parade andthe Showcase of MarchingBands in Photo Galleries attheadvertiser.com.


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For the U.S. to have a long-termfuture in ethanol, it can’t come fromcorn, sugar cane or any otherfood-based crop. Researchers,politicians and farmers are allstarting to agree that we eitherwon’t grow enough of it or can’tafford not to eat it.

While Brazil made its ethanolniche in sugar cane, the next evo-lutionary step is cellulosic tech-nology — breaking down every-

thing from pulpy cane fiber calledbagasse, corn scraps, or almostany nonfood crop into its mostbasic sugars, and then into fuel.

Amanda [email protected]

The Louisiana State Boardof Private InvestigatorExaminers will hold a hearingThursday morning regardingspeed vans and a planned pro-gram to place cameras at cer-tain Lafayette intersections.

Through a contract withLafayette ConsolidatedGovernment, Redflex TrafficSystems, based in Arizona,operates both the vans in theSafeSpeed Lafayette programand is scheduled to operate cam-eras to catch red-light runners.

The hearing stems from acomplaint filed by privateinvestigator Stephanie Ware,who has asked the board toexamine what she considers tobe investigative activities.

“They are practicing sur-veillance activities withoutbeing a privately licensedinvestigative agency who canemploy investigators,” she said.

Ware said she also disagreeswith the fact that citations aremailed to those caught speed-ing by equipment in the vans.

“They should not be allowedto issue citations because theonly people who can do that arepolice officers,” she said.

Ware said that the day aftershe filed her complaint, shereceived a ticket in the mailwith a photo of her 17-year-olddaughter. The ticket stated thedriver had been caught speed-ing, but Ware would have to paythe fine because she is the reg-istered owner of the vehicle.

According to Ware, the tick-et also stated that if sherefused to pay the fine, shemust post a bond to appeal orcontest the citation.

“I don’t know who’s takingthese pictures, and they’resending them over state linesto Arizona and being edited bysomeone we don’t know,” she said.

City-Parish Attorney PatOttinger said his office doesnot believe the vans’ use con-stitutes private investigativeactivities.

“It is our view that the workperformed by the Redflex vanis not within the scope of thework of a private investigator,”he said.

Redflex representativescould not be reached forcomment.

Redflexprogramfaceshearing

Biofuel future rests with farm waste

Bruce [email protected]

Louisiana HonorAir hashad a profound effect on eachperson involved in sendingabout 500 World War II veter-ans on free flights to

Washington.Theirs is a mission of

remembrance, of redemption,of thanks, a way to appreciatea generation that may havethought time had forgottenthem.

“These guys have been outof the loop for a long time,”said HonorAir founder T.D.Smith. “This makes them feellike they’re in the sunshineagain, like the world revolvesaround them again.

“These were people whowere raised in the Depression,

and then when it should havebeen time for them to start afamily, they went to World WarII and saw unspeakable horrors. By comparison, my

■ Today: Louisiana’sethanol future

FOLLOWTHIS SERIESA pile

of bagasse

sits at the

Verenium

plant in

Jennings. The

Massachusetts-

based com-

pany’s site is

a pilot plant

for the pro-

duction of

cellulosic

ethanol.

LeslieWestbrook/

[email protected]

La. site leadsway in cellulosictechnology

See FUTURE on Page 12A

HonorAir program salutes Acadiana veterans’ sacrifices

Mission to remember

•For interactive features and slideshows, go to theadvertiser.com/ethanol •

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The meeting is scheduledfor 10 a.m. Thursday at theoffice of the Louisiana StateBoard of Private InvestigatorExaminers, 2051 SilversideDrive, Suite 190, Baton Rouge.

What’s next?

Local womanchallengessurveillance

Speed van controversy

HonorAir veteran Ernie Broussard is greeted at Lafayette Regional Airport on Saturday after the HonorAir trip to Washington. He was one of 500 World

War II veterans who have been flown to the nation’s capital for a tour of the National World War II Memorial.

John Rowland/[email protected]

Are you having aVeterans Day event? We’dlike to know. We want to com-pile a list of Acadiana-areaactivities by VFW posts,schools or other groupsplanned around the Nov. 11national holiday.

If you have something inthe works, please e-mail detailsof your activity (time, date, loc-ation, plans) to Bruce Brown [email protected].

Let us knowOrganizers sayprogram islabor of love

See REMEMBER on Page 4A

■ Future expands, Page 10A■ John Deere on the global move, Page 1B

INSIDE TODAY

PHOTOGALLERYTo see morephotos from the arrival ofSaturday’s HonorAir flight, clickon this story’s headline.

@theadvertiser

.com

This will be what makes orbreaks ethanol in Louisiana.Drawing on scraps from thestate’s two largest agriculturalsectors, sugar cane andforestry, it could add a newavenue of profit for farmersand mills eager to diversify.

“Whether it’s from bagasseor forest residue, I thinkLouisiana is going to be capableof being more of an aggressiveplayer in biofuels in the future,”said Brian Jennings, executivedirector of the AmericanCoalition for Ethanol. “Youcould help supply a clean-burn-ing alternative to supplementyour oil capabilities.”

A race for the recipeThe key to cellulosic taking

off in the U.S. is making theprocess efficient enough to becheaper than gasoline.

The Department of Energywants to bring down the over-all cost of making cellulosicethanol to $1.07 a gallon by2012. That’s not even half whatit costs now to make, but isless than the current $1.50 costto make a gallon of corn-basedethanol.

Unlike cane where sugar isready to go, plant matter ismade up of cellulose andhemicellulose, which breaksdown into sugars with thehelp of enzymes.

A handful of companies inthe U.S. are racing to engineeran enzyme that eats celluloseand poops alcohol (and carbondioxide) faster and cheaperthan anyone else’s.

Forty minutes west ofLafayette in Jennings, a com-pany named Verenium is lead-ing the pack.

Based in Massachusetts,Verenium built a small-scaleplant in Jennings in 2006, andbegan quietly cooking abouttwo tons of local crop wasteper day into ethanol. It’s oneof a few pilot plants in the U.S.acting like chemistry labs forcellulosic ethanol.

In February, Vereniumbroke ground on a 1.4 milliongallon per-year demonstrationplant right next to the pilot site.It would be the first cellulosicplant of its size in the U.S., andVerenium officials boastthey’re at least one year ahead

of anyone else in the game.This new plant should be

built in March and start run-ning later next year, but is stilljust the second of three phas-es, meant to help Vereniumperfect the process on theirway to building a commercial-scale plant.

That could make 25 millionto 30 million gallons ofethanol per year from biomassas far away as New Iberia, if itwere built in Jennings. Sitesin Florida and Texas are alsobeing considered for the large,third-phase plant.

“If we built here, thiswould be the only site withpilot, demonstration and com-mercial plants all together,”said Mark Eichenseer,Verenium’s vice president ofoperations. “It would be aunique place with full teach-ing potential.”

Brazil wants cellulosicA cellulosic breakthrough

is just as important forBrazil’s ethanol future as inthe U.S., helping limit farm-ing’s encroachment on thecountry’s pristine savannaand rainforest lands.

Environmentalists are con-cerned for both if cane acreagedoubles as expected in thenext decade. Sugar cane won’tmove into these areas becausethe climate’s not right, but itcould push cattle farmersnorth into the Amazon.

Researchers are learninghow to break Brazil’s 128 mil-lion tons of cane bagasse peryear down into fuel. Sugarmills there, and most in theU.S., burn their bagasse togenerate steam and power butdo it in an outdated, ineffi-cient way. A lot of the value inthat biomass is lost in theprocess that could be madeinto more ethanol.

Ivo Fouto’s new company,Biocel, is trying to make thatprocess a seamless addition toexisting sugar mills.

Biocel’s goal is an additionto the mill where bagassewould be diverted, go througha cellulosic breakdown, andthe sweet liquid result wouldcircle back to the mill’sethanol refining-end. Thesame could be done in anyLouisiana mill, he said.

“What we want to do is getmore value on the same plant-ed area, because more andmore the cost of the land isgetting higher,” Fouto said.“The alternative is going to

new frontiers to make newmills and cane, but to do thatyou need more infrastructurecosts. So, the best alternativeis to maximize the amount ofproduct you get out of thesame planted area.”

In some ways bagasse is thefastest track to cellulosic suc-cess. It’s a feedstock thatcomes out of the millingprocess power-washed andclean, requiring a simplerenzyme than corn-field scrapsor other dirty crops fresh fromthe field, which Fouto saidmay need stronger enzymesand more time to break down.

Cellulosic support neededEthanol demand pushed

U.S. corn growers to plantmore than double the acreagein 2007 of five years ago. Buteven if the entire corn cropwas turned into ethanol itwould replace just 12 percentto 15 percent of gasoline con-sumption, while squeezing thefood supply and threateningareas like the Gulf of Mexico,where fertilizer runoff downthe Mississippi River is con-

tributing to a dead zone.The U.S. can sustainably

produce 1.3 billion tons peryear of cellulosic biomass,using corn and cane leftoverswhile planting new energycrops like switchgrass on poorsoil, according to a 2005 reportfrom the Department ofEnergy and USDA. It would beenough biomass to replace 30percent or more of currentpetroleum needs, and last yearthe DOE published a “researchroadmap” to get it done by 2030.

The new U.S. Energy Billcould give cellulosic technolo-gy the government backing itneeds to attract more invest-ment. A Senate bill versionwould boost the U.S. renew-able fuels mandate from 7.5billion gallons annually by2012 to 36 billion gallons by2022 — 21 billion of whichwould have to be from cellu-

losic sources.“In 2005, the Energy Bill

sent a necessary signal to themarketplace that we’re com-mitted to producing fuelethanol from corn. This billwould do much the samething, but for cellulosic,” saidMatt Hartwig, spokesman forthe Renewable Fuels Association.“You’re providing confidencein the marketplace that a mar-ket will be there, giving com-panies today investing hun-dreds of millions into thisresearch the firm footing thatthey need to move forward.”

The federal investment isrisky but worth the payoff,Hartwig said. The cellulosicprocess would raise ethanolyields from sugar cane byabout one-third an acre, andcould do the same for corn,generating more profit forfarmers and making ethanolcheaper for consumers.

State in prime positionIf an ethanol company

focused its cellulosic plant inLouisiana, they’d have accessto a buffet of feedstock.

“We can grow a lot,” saidMark Zappi, dean of UL’sCollege of Engineering, whoheads an alternative energydevelopment program thatpartners with other universi-ties. “Timber, corn, soy, cane,switchgrass, manure andwastes from it all. Even crackedrice, a secondary product foranimal feed, could be used.”

Verenium spoke to about 20Vermilion Parish farmers inlate September about growingnew crops like “energy” canein the next two years to pro-vide biomass for the Jenningsplant. LSU AgCenter has bred

three types of new energycane that is mostly plant fiber,with just 3 percent sugarinside compared to 20 percentto 30 percent in normal cane.

Verenium wants 1,500 acresof biomass crops planted in2008 and 15,000 acres in 2009 tosupport its current demonstra-tion plant, and see if farmerscan plant enough to support alarger commercial plant insouthwest Louisiana.

Farmers may profit $150 to$200 per acre on an energycrop. The company is consid-ering contracts where they’deven harvest and transport thecrop for the farmers.

Those profits are still low,said Howard Cormier, countyagent for LSU AgCenter.Energy crops now must com-pete for farmers’ attentionwith the skyrocketing price ofsoybeans, in demand for foodand biodiesel.

Some farmers can pick up anew crop tomorrow and growit if the price is right. It’s notas easy for Louisiana’s sugar-cane farmers. Cane’s a multi-year commitment, and theirharvest equipment doesn’twork on just any crop.

Farmer Clay Duplantis ofKaplan has been reading upon ethanol, is excited aboutenergy cane and doesn’t carewhat his crop would gotowards in the future, as longas he can keep Louisiana’ssugar tradition going.

“This family’s now in itseighth generation of canefarming,” Duplantis said, with15-month-old son, Henry Clay,in his arms. “The biggestthing we need is good weather,new varieties to grow betterand a fair price for our product.”

theadvert iser.com12A • The Advert iser Sunday, Nov. 4, 2007

St. Thomas More Catholic High School does not discriminateon the basis of race, color, sex, national or ethnic origin.

St. Thomas MoreCatholic High School

Open HouseTuesday, November 6, 2007(Students Welcome)5:00 - 7:00 p.m.The last tour begins at 7:00 p.m.

Parent Information NightWednesday, November 14, 2007

6:00 - 7:00 p.m.STM Cafeteria - Dessert & Coffee

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In Reward CertificatesWhen You Open An Account†

ADRIANNA PAPELLStretch satin dress with pockets and detachablejeweled collar. Misses’ sizes. $160.

FROM CAREER DRESSESTO SEXY SHIFTS, RED’SNOT JUST FORHOLIDAYS ANYMORE.BRIGHT AND BOLD, IT’SGUARANTEED TO STOPTHEM IN THEIR TRACKS!


Future The U.S. Departmentof Energy reportedlyhas put $726 milliontoward renewableenergy projects thisyear, including windand solar. Grants total-ing $385 million weregiven to six companies

for cellulosic ethanolplants. The USDAwants to increase itsbioenergy financingfrom $122 million to$161 million, anddirect $21 million inloan guarantees forcellulosic plants.

GEARING UP FOR FUTURE

Clay Duplantis and his 15-moth-old son, Henry Clay, stand in a cane field

recently near Kaplan. Duplantis said he is encouraged about the idea of using

sugar cane for renewable energy.

• Go to theadvertiser.com/ethanol for more information •

Brad Kemp/[email protected]

days 1, 2 and 4 of louisiana/brazil ethanol series

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