The Wall Street Journal: "Ethanol Craze Cools As Doubts Multiply" -- The Tifton Gazette: "Ethanol plant is announced in Ashburn"

From The Wall Street Journal:

Little over a year ago, ethanol was winning the hearts and wallets of both Main Street and Wall Street, with promises of greater U.S. energy independence, fewer greenhouse gases and help for the farm economy. Today, the corn-based biofuel is under siege.

In the span of one growing season, ethanol has gone from panacea to pariah in the eyes of some. The critics, which include industries hurt when the price of corn rises, blame ethanol for pushing up food prices, question its environmental bona fides and dispute how much it really helps reduce the need for oil.

The fortunes of many U.S. farmers, farm towns and ethanol companies are tied to corn-based ethanol, of which America is the largest producer. Ethanol is also a cornerstone of President Bush's push to reduce dependence on foreign oil. But the once-booming business has gone in the dumps, with profits squeezed, plans for new plants shelved in certain cases, and stock prices hovering near 52-week lows.
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From The Tifton Gazette:

Construction of a corn ethanol facility in Turner County is scheduled to begin next summer. The plant, expected to employ 50 people, is expected to produce 50 million gallons of ethanol a year.

The cooperative of 236 farmers, some of whom are from Tift County, formed a year ago, conducted feasibility studies and visited other ethanol plants. Within the next six months, the group will complete zoning and EPD requires and conduct an equity drive to sell stock. Site improvements that include land, buildings, equipment, rail, water, sewer and gas total $90 million.
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From The Albany Herald:

[In attendance for the announcement of the corn ethanol facility was] Jill Stuckey, Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority’s Director of Alternative Fuels, [who] has worked closely with about 60 of the state’s alternative fuel ventures, including C2 Biofuels and Range Fuels, cellulosic ethanol facility that will make ethanol from timber scraps, and Alterra Bioenergy near Plains, where biodiesel will be made from oilseeds, including peanuts.

While the technology to make large quantities of fuel from wood pulp or other organic matter is developing, it’s been proven in the corn ethanol refineries that dot the Midwest, Stuckey said.

“Today, it’s corn ethanol, because that’s what we know how to do,” Stuckey said. “Tomorrow, with folks like Range Fuels and C2 Biofuels, it’s going to be cellulosic.”