Honda closer to cellulosic ethanol

"Honda and the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth, a nonprofit entity set up by the Japanese government and private enterprises, said the new method allows large volumes of ethanol to be produced from widely available waste wood, rice straw, leaves and other so-called soft biomass that is currently discarded". (more)

Though I'm not a huge supporter of ethanol, I'm excited about the prospects of cellulosic ethanol. It's not that I believe ethanol, even cellulosic ethanol, provides a complete solution, but it does offer a nice competitor to gasoline in the short term. Still, I wish automakers, especially the American ones, focused more on technology and less on alternative fuels. In reality, I believe the time for biofuels was several decades ago.

Now is the time for hybrid cars, then plug-in hybrid cars, followed by plug-in fuel cell hybrid cars. Still, each of the preceding hybrids could also use cellulosic ethanol as a fuel.