ALTERNATIVE FUELS: Ethanol booms, but warnings issued

Minnesota and other Midwestern states are in the middle of an ethanol boom, with new production facilities sprouting up as fast as corn does on a rainy spring day.

“There is a bit of a gold rush going on,” said Tim Gerlach of the American Lung Association.

But some warn that farmers and agri-businesses need to keep looking for something new.

“What we see now with ethanol cannot last,” Steve Taff told hundreds of farmers at FarmFest the other day.

Taff, a University of Minnesota economist, and other ethanol experts say new plant materials will replace corn as the raw ingredient for ethanol, and warn farmers to be prepared.

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