Don't Breeze Into Billion-Dollar Wind Projects

Valid points, but no reason not to proceed, meticulously, cautiously, progressively. Its the culmination of all options that will benefit America and the World. America, we produce >11% of the world's petro energy, yet consume in excess of 34% Less Efficient than Sugarcane... Brazil doesn't import one drop of oil, utilizes sugarcane in <40% of its fuel needs. Furthermore, sugarcane is far more efficient, regarding ethanol. Problems Associated With Corn/Maze-Derived Ethanol... There is no shortage of disagreement on the pros and cons of using corn-ethanol as a petroleum substitute. What does emerge from the discussion is that while corn-derived ethanol may be a short term solution to America's energy problem, it casts doubt on corn-based ethanol's long-term viability, and begs the need for a long term solution: enter cellulosic ethanol. Benefits of Cellulosic Derived Ethanol Cellulosic ethanol also known by the name Ceetol, is a biofuel produced from wood, grasses, or the non-edible parts of plants. It is a type of biofuel produced from lignocellulose, a structural material that comprises much of the mass of plants. Lignocellulose is composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Corn stover, switchgrass, miscanthus and woodchips are some of the more popular cellulosic materials for ethanol production. Production of ethanol from lignocellulose has the advantage of abundant and diverse raw material compared to sources like corn and cane sugars, but requires a greater amount of processing to make the sugar monomers available to the microorganisms that are typically used to produce ethanol by fermentation. Switchgrass and Miscanthus are the major biomass materials being studied today, due to high levels of cellulose. Cellulose, however, is contained in nearly every natural, free-growing plant, tree, and bush, in meadows, forests, and fields all over the world without agricultural effort or cost needed to make it grow. According to US Department of Energy studies conducted by the Argonne Laboratories of the University of Chicago, one of the benefits of cellulosic ethanol is that it reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 85% over reformulated gasoline. By contrast, starch ethanol (e.g., from corn), which most frequently uses natural gas to provide energy for the process, may not reduce GHG emissions at all depending on how the starch-based feedstock is produced. A study by Nobel Prize winner Paul Crutzen found ethanol produced from corn, rapeseed (canola), and sugarcane had a "net climate warming" effect when compared to oil. Corn/Maze isn't a viable option for fuel. We must embrace all options, including wind...