Free Republic

the times Consultant: Trash-to-ethanol tech could be high-risk venture By Marc Chase marc.chase@nwi.com, (219) 662-5330 | Posted: Sunday, January 30, 2011 12:00 am A national garbage processing and waste-to-energy consultant said Lake County made the right move removing taxpayer ownership from a trash-to-ethanol plan predicated on commercially unproven technology. Bob Brickner, vice president and part owner of consulting firm Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc., said his company has deemed as high risk a key piece of the technology -- known as gasification -- that would be used at the planned Lake County plant to transform carbon-based trash into ethanol fuel....

Could an annoying plant hold the key to reducing our dependence on foreign oil? A Cleveland, Tennessee man who knows how to make ethanol out of kudzu may soon bring his refining process to market. This time next year, the gas you fill-up with in Chattanooga may be cheaper than other parts of the country. Tom Monahan with Agro*Gas says Chattanooga will be number one and then it will spread out from there. In the basement of a Cleveland, Tennessee home, Doug Mizell's experiment in energy appears to be taking off. He's found a way to turn kudzu into fuel....