Arkansas already has at least one alternative-fuel station; those who have passed through downtown Little Rock recently may have seen Go Green Biofuels, which sells fuels partially made with crops.
"Reducing our dependency on foreign oil" seems the be one of the most popular mantras lately among many, but especially politicians.
As President Bush said during last month's State of the Union address, he wants to reduce Americans' gasoline usage by 20 percent in 10 years.
Congress already passed an energy bill in 2005 that mandated the growth of alternative-fuel use to 7.5 billion gallons a year by 2012. Then, Bush declared in January he is seeking to boost that number to 35 billion gallons a year by 2017.
How much are we producing now? Only about 4.9 billion gallons were produced in 2006, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. We still have a ways to go.
Corn is showing to so far be the most popular crop for producing biofuel, which is quite convenient, since it is one of this country's most vernacular crops.
Sounds great, huh? Not so fast.
Corn-based ethanol could come at a price; in fact, it already has. The increasing demand for corn is causing an increase in food prices; corn syrup is a key ingredient in soda, candy, etc., and is traditionally used as feed for stock.
Tyson Foods' CEO even warned Jan. 29 the rising costs will likely be passed on to consumers. "As the food versus fuel debate unfolds, we must carefully consider the negative and unintended consequences of overusing grains," Richard Bond said.
And when food prices rise, well, so does inflation.
In addition, as more land is being used to grow corn, other crops could be sacrificed, making them more expensive as well.
We really need to look at other sources for creating alternative fuels, including hydrogen. South Americans use cane sugar-based ethanol, but that's not an option in the U.S. We just don't have the right climate and conditions.
What we can and do grow, especially in Arkansas, are soybeans, which can also be used to create biofuels.
Arkansas SoyEnergy Group LLC of DeWitt is building the state's first biodiesel plant that will rely entirely on Arkansas soybeans for its feedstock. And since Arkansas grows much more soybeans than corn, we need to jump on the soybean bandwagon.
Those in the Arkansas River Valley may want to pay a little extra attention as ethanol could very well be shipped by train along the rails passing through our towns, or come by river through our port.
We still need to look beyond ethanol, but it will probably be more ideal (at least in the short-term) since it works just like gasoline in vehicles we already drive. There are no batteries to charge or replace, or seemingly complex hydrogen-run engines to try to comprehend. As lazy Americans, we don't want to veer from our usual routines or put any more effort into something than we have to.