I guess this would be good news for railroads since most ethanol is transported by rail, though oil companies and the auto industry aren’t too enthusiastic about expansion of ethanol use. Even environmentalists are becoming hesitant about ethanol too since ethanol is made from corn.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/7392427.html
Being on the supply end (Ag Industry) I feel that corn based ethanol is the wrong road. It is a temporary bandade that is not self-sustaining. Takes more energy to make ethanol from corn than we get out. Without getting into the politics sugar based ethanol will never see the success here like it has in Brazil. Sugar companies have thier hands in too many politic’s pockets to let the sugar tariff drop and let the needed sugar get imported.
Again, having to keep politics out of this, corn based ethanol is highly inefficient. It is more economical to use pond algae than it is corn. As a plus there too, the Algae (blue-green algae to be more specific) is readily available in every pond, and I can gurantee every catfish farm will just about give theirs away because keeping it in check is a BIG concern. I will spare the details there for the sake of time and space, but it would be much more energy efficient.
I’ve heard a lot of the same arguments and reasons expressed in my end of the world (auto parts and automotive service) about increasing use of ethanol in fuels and vehicles. I also happen to agree on algae and sugar being a much more efficient source than corn…