Firm wants to make electricity from cane

A Louisiana Comany has developed a special variety of sugar cane with high biomass for making electricity. They say it is easier to replant and more weather resistant than common cane varieties.
News : Cane-fueled (New Iberia, LA)

Company to make ethanol from sweet sorghum juice in south

Renergie, Inc. will make ethanol from sweet sorghum juice in Louisiana and Florida. This presents several advantages over corn kernel ethanol, including lower energy use for processing and cultivation. Sorghum also thrives with less water and fertilization, while yielding more ethanol per acre than corn kernels. It also tolerates poor soils and widely varied soil types, including soils that are not very well suited for food production.
Biofuels News (Green Portal)

Foundation to plant 1,000 acres of switchgrass in Oklahoma for ethanol

Planting large-scale for commercial production will accelerate the development of growing techniques and varieties that will maximize cellulosic ethanol profits, energy balance, and yield/acre. The Noble foundation is organizing these plantings on farms in the Oklahoma panhandle. 
Foundation to plant 1,000 acres of switchgrass in Oklahoma - Examiner.com

Ethanol from poplar with expected net energy ratio of at least ten

Corn-derived ethanol is usually considered to have a net energy ratio of around 2 or less. This new process will have a much better energy ratio. It will use fast-growing poplar trees as feedstock. These can be grown in regions and on soils unsuitable for row crops like corn and many other food crops.
The Energy Blog: ZeaChem Announces Poplar Tree Feed Stock Agreement for High Yield, High Efficiency Bio-Refinery

New process for cellulosic ethanol, butanol

ZeaChem, a U.S. company, claims they can produce cellulosic ethanol for 80 cents per gallon (wholesale) by extracting acetic acid from cellulose and hemicellulose, while also extracting hydrogen from lignin. The hydrogen and acetic acid are them combined to make ethanol. They say this process extracts more ethanol from a tone of material. They plant to use fast-growing poplar trees as the feedstock. They also claim to be able to easily switch to producing butanol or other fuel types should the market warrant a switch. This could be quite significant considering the advantages of butanol with regard to automobile and pipeline compatibility. More information at:
Is vinegar the secret ingredient for biofuels? | Green Tech blog - CNET News.com