ATMORE-- Gov. Bob Riley and other officials today announced that a milestone has been reached in the state’s effort to explore a new industry and a new economic opportunity for farmers in south Alabama: the production of jet fuel from sugar cane. Planting a sugar-cane test site represents a necessary first step toward establishing such an industry, Riley said.

The Governor visited a 100-acre site adjacent to Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore where four varieties of sugar cane are being grown and evaluated to determine the commercial viability of the crop in south Alabama. If the test site is successful and area farmers adopt the crop, Amyris Biotechnologies, a California company, will seek funding to build a biofuel demonstration plant in south Alabama that would use the sugar cane as feedstock. Following the site visit, Riley met with Amyris Chief Executive John Melo and officials from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs and Auburn University to discuss future steps in the project.

“This project comes at a crucial time in our nation’s history when we must end our dependence on high-priced oil produced by nations that don’t have America’s best interests at heart,” Riley said. “If the tests we are conducting are successful, this effort could lead to a new domestic source of fuel, offer a tremendous economic opportunity for area farmers and make Alabama a leader in the new and growing biofuels industry.”

The sugar-cane nursery, established on land owned by the state Department of Corrections, is funded by a $250,000 grant from ADECA. Auburn University and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System are managing the site. Auburn researchers believe the crop can be grown in areas south of Montgomery, where freezes are rare.

Workers recently planted four varieties of sugar cane at the Atmore site using “seed cane” stalks originally cultivated in Louisiana. Sugar cane is propagated from cuttings rather than grown from seeds. The nursery will conduct experiments with the varieties to see which grow best in south Alabama soil and climate. Researchers hope to produce 700 acres of sugar cane by fall 2009 to use as seed cane for area farmers interested in growing it. The nursery also will serve as a classroom to teach farmers about sugar-cane production methods, practices and technology.

To reduce dependency on foreign oil, the U.S. Air Force plans to use renewable, domestic sources of fuel to replace much of the petroleum-based fuel used currently. The Air Force is certifying its aircraft to operate with biofuels and expects use of alternative fuel blends to begin by 2011 with 50 percent of its fuel being produced domestically by 2016.

Amyris’s demonstration plant would convert sugar cane into jet fuel using a microorganism developed by the company. Amyris officials said the plant will be located in southeast Alabama to be close to the source of sugar cane because the cane must be processed quickly once harvested. The plant will use sugar cane grown in Baldwin, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Dale, Escambia, Geneva, Henry, Houston and Mobile counties for the biofuel, company officials said.

Joining Riley and Melo for today’s tour and meeting were Paul Mask of Auburn University, Bill Johnson of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, Gary Faulkner of the Alabama Development Office and Jim Hudson of the HudsonAlpha Institute in Huntsville. A HudsonAlpha board member brought Alabama’s biofuel potential to the attention of Amyris and arranged the initial contact with state officials.