They don't know if they can do it day after day in quantities more meaningful than a lab beaker.

A $1.5 million grant, announced Wednesday by the Golden LEAF Foundation, could help them figure it out.

NCSU will use the money to build a pilot plant capable of making ethanol from products commonly found in the state, such as loblolly pine, sweet potatoes and switchgrass -- a tall, dense grass often used as field cover.

"This grant will allow us to get a facility into production within the next 18 months to two years," said Steve Peretti, an associate professor of chemical engineering and organizer of the NCSU project. "It won't be a large-scale plant, but it will let us know if ethanol can be produced with these materials on a larger scale."

The use of materials such as switchgrass or pine -- which researchers call low-value biomass -- is important if North Carolina is going to be a significant player in the ethanol industry.

That industry is built around corn, and for lack of another material, at least five groups in the state are looking to build ethanol plants that will use corn.

"But we don't grow a lot of corn in the South, at least not compared to the Midwest," Peretti said. "So we need to focus on what is available to us here."

NCSU pitched its idea to Golden LEAF as a shared project among three colleges.

The Golden Long-term Economic Advancement Foundation, established in 1999, works to create jobs in communities that once relied on tobacco. Its grant money comes from a national legal settlement with cigarette manufacturers.

"The grant to North Carolina State University is for one plant, but this is about more than one plant," said Valeria Lee, the foundation's president. "We are hoping to help an entire industry develop in North Carolina."

Lee is optimistic about the future of ethanol in North Carolina, based partly on the interest shown by private companies.

Three companies, including Novozymes of Franklinton, supported NCSU's project in the bid process. That support is likely to include help with the engineering and design of the plant.

No formal decision has been made on the plant's location, but the NCSU research farm off Lake Wheeler Road is a likely spot.

The building won't be particularly large -- about the size of a commercial barn. But inside the facility, researchers should be able to precisely measure the production process.

"Most people would say switchgrass is better than pine chips," said Steve Kelley, head of NCSU's wood and paper science department. "But how much better? And is switchgrass better if it is baled and left for six months? What type of enzymes work best? How much heat is needed? A pilot site can give us these answers."

Much of the material being converted will come from NCSU farms, but researchers from around the state will have access to the facility.

Because of its size, only a few employees will be needed.

But if the pilot plant is successful, a facility capable of about 20 times more production would be the next step, said Alex Hobbs, director of the N.C. Solar Center and a partner in the project. If a plant that size is successful, the next step would be full-scale commercial production.

At that point, ethanol production could alter the types of crops farmers plant, the way crops are used and the availability of jobs at facilities around the state, Lee said.

That point, however, is still years away, and other states are also in the hunt to mass-produce ethanol. Tennessee recently built a $40 million pilot plant, Kelley said.

Other alternative fuels will also compete for investments. A second grant of $750,000 from Golden LEAF was given to Appalachian State University to build and operate a biodiesel testing facility.

"This is a huge step," Kelley said. "But it's not the only huge step we need to take before we take this to commercialization."

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