Farmers consider wood-based ethanol after corn hopes stall

About two years ago, area farmers were riding ethanol’s wave.

Gasoline prices were reaching record-high levels and global unrest left many seeking an alternative fuel source to lessen the country’s dependence on foreign oil.

With gasoline prices down to around $2 a gallon, the appetite for ethanol has slacked for the short-term and has left opinion divided as to the future of ethanol as an alternative fuel source.

“You have a market that has declined dramatically over where it was a year ago,” Calhoun County Clemson Extension Agent Charles Davis said.

But while the excitement has waned, farmers are always open to any avenue – from ethanol to cow food – that will allow them to make a profit, Davis said.

Wood or corn-based ethanol?

Times and Democrat