U.S. plays follow the leader on ethanol

Tom Koehler, a marketer and builder of ethanol production plants, is more optimistic than ever about the future of the homegrown fuel as an alternative to gasoline.

Microsoft mogul Bill Gates is willing to gamble that ethanol has a future in the United States. In November, he invested $84 million in Pacific Ethanol Inc., the Fresno, Calif., company headed by Koehler’s brother Neil.