[lorenzo]

Better use all that biomass for the production of electricity and heat. Use the electricity in electric cars. Far more efficient.

Problem: electric car ventures will crash as oil prices crash, so it will take years before we make the transition to e-powered vehicles. Likewise, it will take years to make biomass for power and heat worthwile again.

[Ferretlover]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', '.').. Other projects in the works include efforts to make alternative fuels from switchgrass, wheat straw, timber scraps and citrus peels."

[kublikhan]

A quick update on Genecor. They broke ground on their pilot cellulose ethanol plant(research plant, not commercial plant). The plant will be able to process switchgrass and corn stover.
Tennesse Breaks Ground

[kublikhan]

Several companies are racing to be the first to complete a commercial cellulose ethanol plant.

Range Fuels - Broke ground in 2007 on a commercial plant and hopes to complete Phase 1 of the plant by 2009. Phase 1 consists of 20 million gallons of ethanol per year. Later phases are planned to scale that up to 100 million gallons per year. Range fuels appears to be in the lead at the moment for the first to commercialize cellulose ethanol.

POET - secured funding to expand it's existing ethanol refinery to prodce cellulose ethanol(corn stover). Construction is planned to start in 2009 and commercial cellulose ethanol production is planned for 2011.

Danisco - Plans to have it's pilot plant up and running in 2009, and a commercial plant running by 2012.

Many more companies in the race listed here:
11 Companies Racing to build Commercial Ethanol

However, something not often mentioned is that the "waste" material from crops is normally returned to the soil. Removing the "waste" material and turning it into Ethanol reduces the soil fertility. This lost fertility must be compensated for by using more fertilizers.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 't')he removal of stover would result in having to apply more fertilizer to the soil for future crops, the USDA said. Depending on whether you remove the whole plant or just the top half of the plant, removing corn stover from the field results in a per-acre loss of up to 45 pounds of nitrogen, 2 to 4 pounds of phosphorus, and 23 to 38 pounds of potassium, which translates into $25 to $30 per acre in additional fertilizer costs. Other soil nutrients including calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, and manganese are also lost and in some soil types, the loss of potassium might result in long-term potassium deficiencies that would reduce crop productivity.