Having grown up in Brazil and being the grandson of one of the key people in the Brazilian ethanol project, I still cannot understand why America has a hard on for making ethanol from corn. It does not take a genius to figure out that sugar cane is the way to go. Ethanol is a very good energy source, so long as it is made from something other than corn which has a very low yield. But here, this is a good read
http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Business/070605_cafta.html
On a different note, being a car guy there is a lot to like about ethanol. Other than changing a few parts around in order to deal with corrosion, any vehicle can be cheaply converted to run on ethanol. Including the cars we talk about right here on this forum. Then there are the higher compression ratios that one can run when using ethanol. Again, while we care about the environment, we are car guys as well. Want to be both, go with ethanol. But don't buy into the corn lobby bull*****. Sugar cane is the best source right now.
But here is something else to keep in mind. The US and most of the Americas are almost cater made for sugar cane production. Believe me when I say that we can produce a *****load more sugar cane than can Kuwait or any of the Emirates. That is one hell of an opportunity. So wake up folks. The argument should not be about the viability of ethanol. The argument should be about the source.