Sweet potatoes in your gas tank

Charleston Post and Courier
Robert Behre
September 18, 2008

Lowcountry lawmakers have given initial encouragement to a budding venture that aims to grow massive sweet potatoes specially bred for conversion into ethanol.

Ultimately, horticulturist Janice Ryan-Bohac of North Charleston and businessman Alan Overcash of Gainesville, Ga., would like to see more than 1 million South Carolina acres planted with these special potatoes and other feedstock.

That would provide enough raw material for 23 bio-refineries, which they say could replace 85 percent of all gasoline consumed here.

Ryan-Bohac currently is seeking a patent on what is dubbed “the energy sweet potato,” a tuber that can grow up to 40 pounds and provide up to six times as much ethanol as corn or three times as much as sugar cane per acre.

She and Overcash, who works for Southeastern Biofuels Inc., have formed CAREthanol LLC and hope to begin work soon on a $400,000 feasibility study that would pinpoint a site for a new bio-refinery, assess its economic impact and carbon footprint and detail the amount of energy it could produce.

They would like to explore placing that first refinery at the Clemson University Restoration Institute on the former Charleston Naval Base.

They have met with 1st District Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C., Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, and North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey, and they also hope to win support from the Ted Turner Foundation in Atlanta.

Last week, they met with the Charleston County legislative delegation to seek its blessing, and lawmakers agreed to write Clemson a letter. That letter could be sent this week.

The Restoration Institute’s site includes at least one old storage tank, and renewable energy, including biofuels research, is one of its focus areas.

Another advantage to building the refinery in North Charleston is that it would be close to Medical University of South Carolina researchers. Ryan-Bohac said some of the potatoes’ byproducts may help fight tumors and help diabetics control their blood sugar.

Building that first refinery could cost more than $100 million, and Ryan-Bohac, who toted around a 17-pound sweet potato on the campaign trail during this year’s presidential primaries, said government has an important role to play to get the biofuel industry in gear.

“The way the industry got started in Brazil is they had government subsidy and support for 20 years,” she said. “With all the resources and capital that Big Oil has, for someone to get started with biofuel is difficult.”

Unlike using cellulose plants for ethanol, the technology behind the starchy sweet potato has been proven, Ryan-Bohac said, noting a Thai plant is converting starch into ethanol starting with the cassava plant.

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