This link http://earth2tech.com/2008/01/13/eth...rs-and-khosla/ announced ethanol production from various non-food based substances. The Pittsuburgh Post-Gazette's (4-25-08 section E page 1) article stated municipal waste products can be utilized! Construction on a $25 million dollar plant has been announced east of Pittsburgh, Pa. The Governor of Pennsylvania was present along with other local Federal and State Representatives for this announcement.

Coskata is headquartered in Warrenville, Ill. This company has the backing of GM. Company officials claim 100 gallons of ethanol is produced from a ton of source products via their methods while current methods produce 67 gallons of ethanol from corn. Company officials also believe their fuel will cost less than $1.00 a gallon to produce.

This is a link for a basic animated view of their process of producing ethanol ; http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=706155

I'm no expert on this but it appears to be another evolutionary(?) step in the development of biofuels. Hopefully this also means more energy independence for all of us.

2005 AWD Escape Hybrid
Best tank trip MPG 39.02 (scangauge II) for 402 miles on I-70, 10.3 gallons used over mostly flat terrain.

Best tank trip MPG 34.6 for E30 for 271 miles along I-80 in Indiana and Ohio.