MONROE COUNTY (WVLT) – You’ve probably seen switchgrass crowing along roads and in fields. Bison hailing from the western plains have grazed on the hardy plant for centuries. In 2006, President George W. Bush touted switchgrass as an efficient and environmentally friendly way to break the nation’s dependence on imported oil.

Just two years later, crews have broken ground in Monroe County for a facility that will turn switchgrass and corncobs into biofuels. On Tuesday, state and local lawmakers were joined by local farmers for the occasion.

“It is rare that a region or a state could play a more important role than,” said Rep. Zach Wamp, (R-TN). “This is for our nation and indeed the entire world."

Once complete, the cellulosic ethanol biorefinery will produce up to 250-thousand gallons of ethanol a year.

“It's an exciting time to be in agriculture,” said David Richensin, a local farmer, “especially to get the chance to provide a renewable fuel source for all of us."

The state and DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC are pouring money into the facility, which will be run by the University Of Tennessee Institute Of Agriculture.

Lawmakers’ believe the biorefinery can become a big moneymaker that provides renewable energy and jobs, but ethanol critics have argued the final product is expensive to refine and less fuel efficient than gasoline. Gov. Phil Bredesen (D-TN) believes ethanol’s advantages outweigh its negatives.

“It’s always possible it won't work,” he said, “but it's like anything in this country, if you take a little bit of a risk then you get a really big reward if it all works."

The biorefinery is located within the Niles Ferry Industrial Park in Vonore. It will begin producing ethanol by the end of 2009.