North Central: Fueling the Future

Demographics for the North Central Region can be found at Business Florida's interactive map of Florida.

Regional Assets Universities/Colleges • Central Florida Community College • Lake City Community College • North Florida Community College • Santa Fe College • University of Florida Airports • Gainesville Regional Airport • Ocala International Airport

After earning an undergraduate degree (and playing football) at the University of Central Florida, then pursuing graduate studies in mechanical engineering at Auburn, Bethea was on a ­­­career path that could have taken him just about anywhere. He came home instead to Perry, Florida, where for the last 14 years, he has worked for Buckeye Technologies, a major producer of cellulose from slash pine.

Headquartered in Perry, Buckeye’s Florida operation directly employs 580 people. Another 1,000-plus jobs have been created through vendor relationships that support the local plant’s operations. From his vantage point as Buckeye’s wood sustainability business development manager, Bethea believes those already-impressive job numbers are about to change for the better, and here’s why.

In 2007, Bethea saw a request for proposals from the University of Florida for a pilot facility to determine the feasibility of making ethanol from plant and wood cellulose. The technology, developed under the direction of UF Distinguished Professor Dr. Lonnie Ingram, could potentially reduce our nation’s dependence on petroleum.

“Ethanol produced from corn is too expensive,” says Bethea. “You just can’t meet the demand using a food product.” But, he says, every living plant contains cellulose, and by growing managed crops specifically for ethanol production, a sustainable source of the raw material can be readily and cost effectively maintained.

Energy cane grown by Buckeye Technologies near Perry will provide new sources of nonfood biomass for the University of Florida’s pilot bio refinery. Clay Bethea expects the resulting research to identify processes that will make the ethanol produced from cellulosic products a cost-effective alternative to petroleum.

Buckeye submitted a proposal and was ultimately awarded the $20-million pilot plant project in June 2009. State funding will support construction; a $25-million grant for operations is pending with the U.S. Department of Energy.

And now Bethea is excited on two fronts: about the opportunities available to Buckeye and about the role he’ll be playing in creating economic sustainability for Perry, Florida. “I’m gratified to be helping my hometown,” he says.

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