Gas prices in southwest Missouri are back up near three dollars a gallon. And the price at the pump could rise even more as oil processing continues to dry up here in America.
   
On Friday, a panel of experts came to the Ozarks to show people new ways of producing energy that could change dependency on foreign oil.

It is called the ONE conference which stands for Ozarks New Energy.  It's a grassroots effort to explain the condition of petroleum-based energy consumption and show how the economy can change by switching gears.    

"Essentially what's happening is we have declining resources globally which means that we will have to compete for those resources." explains Bill Ayres, a biodiesel producer.

Competing for goods in turn means paying higher prices.  That's why people like Dr. David Bransby are developing new ways of creating energy.

"I just heard him talk about the advice that he has given to President Bush about how much biomass needs to be produced in the country to replace foreign oil and it can be done in a very reasonable amount of time." says conference coordinator Jennifer Ailor.

Experts say their focus is to take foreign oil completely out of the energy equation and work with what's left.

"When you have a declining global resource like we have globally today, if you look at biodiesel, it's essentially a drop-in replacement." says Ayres.

Ayres was the first person to sell biodiesel commercially in the early 90's.  It is essentially energy of fats coming from vegetable oil, soy beans, and animals.

He says, "The newest fat source that people are looking at now, which has a lot of potential, is microalgae.

And that's where the Ozarks comes in.  The climate and sunlight in the region are ideal for algae.  It can be grown in large quantities in smaller areas than even corn or soy.  Proposals like that are attracting interest from a variety of fields.

"We do have farmers.  We have business people.  We have lots of university staff and faculty and students." says Ailor.

All to see how those in southwest Missouri can contribute to forming mainstream renewable energy with self-sustaining possibilities.

This is the first of it's kind energy conference in the Ozarks.  The conference runs through Saturday afternoon at several venues around town.  Learn more and see a conference schedule here.