Rob:  A new bio energy center in Oklahoma hopes to make native prairie grass into gas.  Joining me now from the site of the new research laboratory is our Brian Bendele.
Brian:  This slab of concrete directly behind me could very well be the future of bio fuels.  We were there as Oklahoma State University held a groundbreaking for a three-thousand  square foot, one-point-two-million dollar bio energy laboratory.
Governor Brad Henry:  Bio energy, as I think most of you here know, certainly holds tremendous promise for our nation and for our great state.  
Brian:  Governor Brad Henry was just one of many who attended the groundbreaking of the OSU Bio Energy Lab.  The lab is the starting ground for the state’s Bio Energy Center, a concept collaborating the state’s top scientists.  
Governor Henry:  The great scientists, here at OSU, and at OU, and at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Ardmore, with the various expertise at each of these locations and the collaboration between these great scientists, Oklahoma can, and will, I think, lead the nation.
Brian:  A must starting point as congress passed legislation for thirty-six-billion gallons of bio fuels by 2022.  The dean of agricultural programs at OSU, Bob Whitson, says this lab will serve as a milestone,
Bob Whitson:  It’s a historic occasion for us.  We have all the major players in Oklahoma with us that have the vision, the leadership, for the development and implementation of this bio fuels industry for our great state.
Brian:  The lab will have a major focus on cellulosic ethanol developed from switch grass.  This process is unique from conventional starch-based ethanol, in that it uses the entire plant, not just the seed.
Some of the national reports, and so on, indicate bio mass, bio fuels out of cellulose, offers a lot of growth opportunity for producing cellulosic kinds of crops that can be converted to ethanol.
Brian:  And as switch grass is native to Oklahoma and can grow in unconventional areas, it ultimately gives the state another crop that can be used in rotation with current farming operationsl; OSU president, Burns Hargis.
Burns Hargis:  It’s a win-win, because that crop can be converted into domestically produced fuel.  So, it’s really leveraging both sides of the equation.
Brian:  Essentially staying away from using food crops, like corn, for fuel, while giving producers an alternative income.  Yet, it is the independence this crop could offer that is most appealing.  
Hargis:  Anything that can be produced right here in this country is so important to the future of our country.
Brian:  Well, as you can see this is still just a slab of concrete, but OSU officials are touting this as an investment on the nation’s energy independence.
Rob:  Well, Brian you’ve been reporting on this for quite some time.  Are we any closer to seeing this technology come to fruition?
Brian:  Well, hopefully soon.  This three-thousand square foot facility should allow for larger production models, before they were working on scale models.  Now they can collect data and see what the process is like at a full scale.
Rob:  Thank you, Brian.
Brian:  Thank you.