Louisiana’s Sugarcane Could Be the Next Clean Super Fuel

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On a recent family vacation, I saw that a pretty good chunk of America is biting off a pretty big chunk of renewable energy.  From wind and solar power, to alternative fuels like biodiesel - diversifying our sources of energy seems to be the wave of the future.  Luckily, Louisiana seems to be on board with the next stage of evolution in the energy world.  We've already started to get electricity from Oklahoma wind farms in Caddo Parish via SWEPCO - but the next step includes cooking up a little home-grown alternative fuel ourselves, Louisiana style.

According to Business Report, yet another company is looking at our fair state as the perfect location of of a brand-new, eco-friendly, bio-fuel plant.  Delta Biofuel is investigating a now idle refinery in Iberia Parish into a bio-diesel plant capable of pumping out thousands of gallons of precious fuel every day using a very Louisiana ingredient.  The plant will reportedly use sugarcane waste from surrounding farms as the basis for the environmentally-friendly fuel.

Sure, the operation help out mother nature by producing fuel that leaves behind less carbon when burned- but this plan will bring way more than that to the table.  By firing up the now dormant refinery, Delta is adding 126 new direct jobs with an average salary of $62,500, plus benefits to our economy - and by using the sugarcane waste (known as bagasse), they're cleaning up a smelly part of the environment to boot!

With the recent announcement of operations in Monroe and Baton Rouge, and our access to lots of the raw materials essential for massive bio-fuel production - Louisiana could soon be the epicenter for a bio-fuel boom.