SC Now has an article on ethanol research being done at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC.

Dr. Gregory Pryor, assistant professor of biology at Francis Marion University, and one of his students, Kirsten “Kitty” Hiortdhal, have begun researching new ways to create ethanol with crops grown locally in the Pee Dee.

According to Wikipedia, the Pee Dee region of South Carolina is the northeastern corner of the state. It is the area of the lower watershed of the Pee Dee River, named after the Pee Dee Native American tribe.

The main crop they are researching is sugar cane, which they say could grow on land that “typically isn’t usable for any other crop in South Carolina.” The FMU research program is trying to encourage the idea of growing, distilling and selling ethanol locally — a prospect that potentially could bring thousands of jobs to the Pee Dee.