Wood, however, isn’t the area’s only viable alternative energy source. At Ernst Conservation Seeds, the focus is on switchgrass, but not for the production of ethanol — at least not in the short term. According to President Calvin Ernst, who called on the committee to “eliminate cumbersome regulations that are slowing down development” of a number of alternatives to petroleum, pellets manufactured from warm-season grasses such as switchgrass could reduce the nation’s need for heating fuels — now.

“Two acres of marginal ground planted with unfertilized switchgrass would heat an average house for a year,” Dan Arnett, biomass coordinator for Ernst Conservation Seeds, said.

For roundtable co-chair Michele Brooks, whose 17th District includes central and southern Crawford County, the discussion “was a collective effort to bring everyone to the table to come up with a variety of ideas of what will work and what will not work for the residents of Pennsylvania and to establish a solid strategic and feasible energy policy that best works for our consumers and our businesses.”

Arnett identified the tone of the day’s presentations. “For the state — or the nation — to put all its resources into a single concept is ludicrous. We tried that one time — with petroleum,” he said.

The local hearing was one of several that have been conducted during recent months. “We’ll be going back (to Harrisburg) Sept. 17 and working through the fall,” Brooks said, stressing that any plan the policy committee comes up with “must be feasible without new taxes and fees.”

“I don’t think you can walk away from coal, natural gas and nuclear power,” said committee chairman Mike Turzai after the presentations were complete. “They’re all important components of energy, and we need to work at making these energy sources available in an environmentally-friendly way. But given all this discussion of other alternative energies, we need to know what the plusses and minuses are of ethanol — and of different types of ethanol. We learned so much today about its viability, both from a research perspective and from an economic perspective. ... I think what we learned today is that the governor and this administration are banking on ethanol far too much. I think more tangible opportunities lie in low-use wood.”

Mary Spicer can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at mspicer@meadvilletribune.com.