I heard an interesting fact this week. If they took all the corn produced in this country (and I mean all - even the feed corn etc.) and used it to create Ethanol, it would still only equate to roughly 10 percent of our fuel needs. Ethanol as an alternative to gas is a pipe dream. We do need to end our dependance on ME oil, and we need to start drilling in the gulf and Alaska.
Alternatives are not replacements.
A couple of replacements:
coal liquefaction (turning coal to coal diesel, etc.)
Nuclear: replaces gas and oil driven electric utility generation.
We have nearly a 300 year supply of coal if we divert from oil to coal diesel.
Cellulosic ethanol will be a more viable solution that corn ethanol to partially supply vehicular fuel needs.