Energy researchers at the University of Oklahoma agree with President Bush's call during his State of the Union speech to push for energy alternatives to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

Lance Lobban, director of the school of chemical, biological and materials engineering at OU, said there are several energy alternatives that deserve equal attention and funding.

"I really agree with the idea of putting some serious money into research for a lot of these technologies, because at this time, it's not clear which will be best," Lobban said Wednesday.

Lobban said some of the emerging renewable energy sources are based on biomass energy, which is the process of using plants to produce liquid fuels.

Biodiesel, produced from soybeans, canola and corn, and ethanol made from fermented switch grass or wheat straw have great potential for powering America's cars, but neither process has proved to be as easy as petroleum, Lobban said.

"They're all struggling with economics," Lobban said. "They're more costly to produce than petroleum. It's hard to beat poking a hole in the ground and having the oil come pouring out."

Richard Sigal, an OU professor who works in the petroleum engineering and geology and geophysics departments, has worked for years in the area of alternative energy sources.

Sigal said some companies are working to recover oil from depleted reservoirs. He said flooding a reservoir with water, carbon dioxide or other biological agents can help liberate some of the oil thought to be unattainable. As the price of oil rises, these methods will be more common, he said.

Sigal's main area of research is a partnership with Devon Energy to draw natural gas from shale reservoirs that have been overlooked through the years. He said with some shale it is difficult to get a proper flow of natural gas, but new methods of creating fracture systems in the rock are producing great results.

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