evolution

Kansas is getting a lot of money this year to work on renewable energy, particularly that from plant-based ethanol. Two Kansas businesses got sizeable grants to install more energy-efficient fixtures, and my alma mater, Kansas State University, got $700,000 to perform genetics research on the state’s native grasses to “make them more conducive” to being turned into ethanol.

Every year, Flint Hills farmers (and one assumes, other farmers in the state) go through a ritual where they burn certain parts of their land to prepare it for planting. At least one researcher believes that the grass and brush cleared thusly could be used for another purpose, namely, ethanol production.

This is something that Kansans of all political persuasions ought to get behind. If ethanol succeeds as an energy source, Kansas will be one of the biggest beneficiaries. This will, in my opinion, be better than farm subsidies. Government spending in this area is less of a handout and more of an investment — I certainly don’t consider it a waste of tax dollars. Farmers might not have to rely on subsidies when prices are down or they have a bad year when Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate.

Ethanol won’t be the answer to oil dependency or pollution. It could be part of such an answer though, and with much benefit and little downside to Kansans.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 15th, 2006 at 18:40 and is filed under kansas, science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.