As a market item, it sounds perfectly suitable for trade and investment. However, my instinct tells me the best investments would be made internally within the United States.
As an example, Brazil produces Ethanol less expensively than we can, but they are not allowed to supplement our demand for it.
I would proceed most cautiously, as if the proposal were for snake oil.
A lot of money is currently going into small, local-scale refineries for ethanol, but I am more intrigued with the possible two-stage bacteriological production of a higher chain alcohol called butanol.
It is said to be a direct replacement for gasoline in standard production cars, and does not have ethanol's problems regarding shipping it by pipeline.
Butanol is currently produced from crude oil feedstocks, but the ability to produce it in small scale refineries directly at the source of biomaterial production would make it very price competitive again.
Thanks, Bob. Always my favorite brain at FR!