Controversial wood-to-ethanol plant may finally get under way in Upper Peninsula

Controversial wood-to-ethanol plant may finally get under way in Upper Peninsula Detroit Free Press freep.com
After a lengthy delay, construction of what could be the nation's first large-scale wood-to-ethanol plant in the country is to start this year in Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula.
If successful, the $232-million biorefinery in Kinross Charter Township would transform the production of ethanol and spawn dozens of other facilities like it.
It sounds like something out of science fiction: create 20 million gallons of ethanol each year by combining bugs with half a million tons of wood chips.
That's the premise behind the ethanol plant.
It's one of a number of projects around the country that are racing to become the first to produce large quantities of ethanol from non-food materials, such as trees, garbage and algae