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By Sherry F. Pruitt

JONESBORO -- Ethanol, an additive to fuel that can make it less expensive for consumers, can be made from corn or rice starch -- from the grain.

But research being done by an Arkansas State University scientist is going a step further to create a product made from agricultural wastes.

Research by Dr. Elizabeth Hood, associate vice chancellor for research and technology transfer, is geared toward creating biorenewable resources. Her current topic of study is biofuel -- making ethanol from agricultural waste products such as rice hulls and rice straw, she said.

A post-doctoral student and an ASU student worker assist Hood in the ASU Biosciences Institute.

"We are working on biological systems to produce cheap enzymes to degrade the plant material into simple sugars that you feed to yeast," Hood said. "The yeast eats these and makes ethanol as a byproduct."

Ethanol is currently expensive to make for several reasons. While gathering the waste materials of rice hulls is not much of a problem, baling and collecting the straw is a major issue, she said. The technology to take apart the pieces and make the sugars from them is expensive.

"I'm working on ways to make it cheaper. I work on a technology that will produce the enzymes cheaply," the researcher said.

Hood works on technologies to produce enzymes in corn kernels, growing the plants and harvesting the grain while keeping it separate from the food supply, followed by combining the enzymes containing the grain with the agricultural waste products.

The plants are grown within U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines.

The end goal of Hood's research is to generate enough ethanol to make it viable as a fuel additive for motorists across the state and nation. Success would be in the form of 10 percent to 20 percent blends with gasoline.

"Within five years it could be commercial," she said.

Operating ethanol demonstration plants are located in Louisiana, Brazil and Canada.

Hood added that she has lots of collaborators within the state, as well as such places as California, Iowa and Boston.

Hood said that working on alternative sources of fuel seems appropriate for her.

"It fits with my positive environmental consciousness; it's very gratifying. It fits in with my earth mother days from the 1960 and '70s," Hood said.

The researcher said she hopes to secure funding to further her research this year.

sherry@jonesborosun.com