Skunks, I just finished listening/viewing the video at the link provided by M Lynch of post# 2130. The video is approx 68 min's long but the first 15-30 min's are well worth the time. This presentation is by one of the deep pocket friends of Bill Gates. In his talk, he compares the viability of producing ethanol from corn VS biomass(switch grass & others) and unequivically states that the energy output of using ethanol is a net plus and the production cost per gal is approx $1.00 VS $1.80 per gal of gasoline. Brazil has reduced it's oil dependancy by 40% in "3 YEARS" folks. His last recommendation is a surcharge by the govt if the ppb of oil were to drop below $40. It would be collected and reserved to off-set the cost at a later time when the ppb goes back up above the $40 mark. His reasoning is that this would stem any attempt by oil co's or producers to artificially lower prices and try to drive the ethanol producers out of the market. Again it's WELL worth viewing, at least the first 30 min's. An aside, there's even plans to build an ethanol plant right here in my back yard of Tampa, Fl at our seaport. RTB