SEBRING - A Massachusetts-based company committed Thursday to building the country’s first cellulosic ethanol plant in Highlands County.

Verenium Corporation, headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., announced plans to produce 36 million gallons of ethanol per year from non-food crops on the Lykes Brothers ranch, on State Road 70 east of U.S. 27.

The plant will create about 140 full-time jobs, and construction of the facility will cost up to $300 million, said Tim Eves, the company’s vice president for commercial development.

In an agreement with Verenium, Lykes Brothers will provide all of the renewable grasses and other non-food crops for conversion into ethanol from about 35,000 acres surrounding the plant.

Construction of the plant is scheduled to start in the second half of this year and production of ethanol should start in 2011, Eves said.

“I think it’s a tremendous step for the country as well as the county,” said Highlands County Commissioner Don Bates from Tallahassee, where he attended a press conference by state, Verenium and Lykes Brothers officials announcing the project.

In addition to job creation and expanding the tax base, Bates said, the plant “moves us away from being dependent on foreign oil, it will be very supportive of agriculture, and we will have another outlet for agriculture products that will not compete with the food crops.”

A state economic incentive package worth about $15 million was a key reason Verenium chose to build its first plant here instead locations in other states under consideration, Eves said.

“We are developing a number of facilities across the Gulf Coast, and Florida stepping up with this incentive package made it very easy to make the decision for us to put our first location here,” Eves said.

The state’s incentive package includes a $7 million farm-to-fuel grant from the Florida Department of Agriculture, plus funding for road improvements and other infrastructure, Eves said.

“The message today is that Florida’s agricultural industry can produce fuel crops on a major commercial scale without sacrificing food crops,” said Charles H. Bronson, Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services commissioner.

“This is a major step forward for our ‘Farm to Fuel’ program,” Bronson added, “and hopefully will serve as a catalyst for additional investment by companies interested in producing renewable energy in Florida.”

Highlands County will have two ethanol plants, as Tampa-based U.S. EnviroFuels is moving ahead with plans to build an ethanol plant at U.S. 27 and State Road 70.

U.S. EnviroFuels, which was awarded a $7 million state farm-to-fuel grant last year, plans to start construction in the second half of this year and start production in early 2011, said Brad Krohn, company president.

Krohn said the $70 million plant will produce about 20 million gallons of ethanol per year, mostly from sweet sorghum and sugar cane. The company is in negotiations with growers to supply its needs, he said.

Verenium’s process is based on technology developed by researcher Lonnie Ingram at the University of Florida, Eves said. Verenium is the only company licensed to use Ingram’s patented technology.

Krohn said U.S.EnviroFuels may be able to expand its production with Verenium’s cellulosic process.

“Our process uses sugar to make ethanol, and what’s left over is bagasse,” he explained. “If Verenium proves their technology on a commercial scale, we could potentially incorporate, or ‘bolt on’ their technology to convert our bagasse into ethanol.”

Bronson said he eventually hopes to see production of 3 billion gallons of ethanol per year in the state, which would create 100,000 jobs and move the country toward energy independence.

“People need to be thinking about what if there are no shipments of oil to the United States and the people of the state of Florida,” he said. “We better be in a position to create new fuel supplies and have additions to what we can produce ourselves to be ready for these potentials.”

Verenium’s plant here will be the first of many, said Carlos A. Rivera, the company’s president and CEO.

“This plant, the first of many we anticipate building in the years ahead, will help fulfill the U.S. government’s mandate for advanced, sustainable Biofuels to meet America’s energy needs,” he said. “The facility will serve as a blueprint for how we develop future projects. This milestone is just the beginning.”

While gas prices are low now, Rivera said the dramatic price hikes at the pump during 2008 helped trigger some of the current economic problems.

“It’s about energy security,” he said about ethanol production. “It’s about having a diversified fuel base and having it produced in different parts of the country. It’s about impact on carbon use and climate change.

“These factors compel us as a society and are very much being vocalized by the incoming administration. Energy prices are only one piece of it.”

Howell Ferguson, CEO and board chairman of Lykes Brothers, said, “We foresee great potential for fuel production from biomass, and we believe that it will offer significant benefits for the U.S. and for agriculture throughout Florida.”

News Service Florida and TBO.com contributed to this story.

JIM KONKOLY is a staff writer for The Tampa Tribune