Energy feedstocks to power green community of Destiny

DELRAY BEACH — A 20-acre tract of sweet sorghum is the first tangible step in the creation of Destiny, a proposed sustainable green community being developed by Delray Beach-based Land Co. of Osceola County LLC. Real estate developer Anthony Pugliese III and his partner, Subway restaurants founder Fred DeLuca, purchased the 41,300-acre Destiny property in 2005 with the goal of building the nation's first ecosustainable city. Construction will start in 2011, said Randy Johnson, chief operating officer of Land Co.

The Destiny Sustainable Energy Farm, with its fledgling sorghum crop, is basically a learning center where farming practices for alternative energy feedstocks, such as sweet sorghum, algae, jatropha, and other crops are being tested, Johnson said Wednesday. "We have to figure out what works and what doesn't," he said. Ultimately, plans call for renewable energy sources to provide the power to run the city of Destiny, which could house 250,000 residents. Ben Scheffres, a chemical engineer with Global Renewable Energy in Sebastian, said his company is growing the sweet sorghum crop west of Yeehaw Junction with Lake Placid farmer Ron Grigsby. Global Renewable Energy expects to start producing ethanol from sorghum at a commercial plant it plans to build in Florida within the next three to four years. "The reason sweet sorghum is so attractive to us is that you can make ethanol from it now. No new technology is needed," Scheffres said. "Our emphasis now is on how can we really maximize the yield while keeping costs down and doing it in an environmentally friendly manner." Belle Glade-based Everglades Farm Equipment has provided irrigation equipment for the crop. American Drilling Services Inc. in Okeechobee drilled a well that's powered with a solar pump, said Frank DeCarlo, president of American Drilling. Amir Varshovi, president of Gainesville-based Green Technologies LLC, said his company is providing the fertilizer. The University of Florida's Everglades Research and Education Center in Belle Glade is testing the sorghum's sugar content.
Roz Gatewood, vice president of development with Destiny, said the farm's potential for a cash crop is attracting attention. "Many of the major citrus growers who have traditionally been hard-core citrus growers are testing jatropha and other plants," Gatewood said.