<p>Friday was a big day for alternative fuels at the University of Florida.</p>
<p>Lonnie Ingram, a UF professor and expert on ethanol, spent the morning at the White House talking with President Bush about the potential of alternative fuels. On the same day, the university also received a $2.5 million state grant to develop a pilot plant designed to supply power and refrigeration with alternative or conventional fuels.</p>
<p>Ingram was among a small group who met with Bush Friday to discuss alternative fuel sources, including cellulosic ethanol, which can be derived from nonedible portions of plants like stems and leaves.</p>
<p>In Bush's most recent State of the Union Address, he set a 10-year goal of reducing gasoline consumption by 20 percent, and his guests at the White House told him that was achievable with the right resources, Ingram said.</p>
<p>"Bush began by telling us how committed he was to reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and he thought cellulosic ethanol would be a major part of reducing that dependence," said Ingram, director of the Florida Center for Renewable Chemicals and Fuels.</p>
<p>Ingram, who has worked with ethanol for more than 20 years, was recommended for the meeting by officials with the U.S. Department of Energy. Ingram sat directly to the right of Bush during the meeting, and said he used that opportunity to tout Florida's potential to be a key player in the alternative fuel market.</p>
<p>"I told him Florida produces more biomass than any state in the country," Ingram said. "Florida could lead the country."</p>
<p>The meeting also was attended by Bush's senior presidential adviser Karl Rove and by Samuel W. Bodman, U.S. secretary of energy.</p>
<p>"I was very impressed with how knowledgable he was about the area," Ingram said of Bush. "And he had very specific questions about how to reduce the cost and how to (commercialize alternative fuels)."</p>
<p>After the morning meeting, Bush headed to the South Lawn of the White House to discuss his energy goals with reporters. He referred to guests like Ingram as "people on the leading edge of change," according to a White House transcript.</p>
<p>"We're going to be driving our cars using all kinds of different fuels other than gasoline," Bush said, "and using batteries that will be able to be recharged in vehicles that don't have to look like golf carts."</p>
<p>Back in Gainesville, UF officials celebrated news that the university will receive $2.5 million to build a pilot plant designed to provide power, refrigeration, air conditioning, heating and water.</p>
<p>The plant could run on conventional fuels or biofuels like ethanol.</p>
<p>Bill Lear, the project's principal investigator, said the power system will be small enough to fit in a closet but powerful enough to support the energy needs of an apartment complex or hospital.</p>
<p>The system that UF is developing would serve to supplement large power plants, Lear said.</p>
<p>It could be particularly useful in emergencies like hurricanes, because it wouldn't lose power with the rest of a grid, Lear said.</p>
<p>"You'd have many places that didn't lose power at all (in a hurricane)," he said. "So if you're in an affected area that lost power, you don't have to wait for ice to be trucked in from Arkansas."</p>