Ok, I've been listening to all the buzz about this country and its oil dependence long enough. Now maybe I can sneak in here and build a small niche. This is a serious search looking for constructive inputs and information. I want some true synergy. In other words, if you ain't building up, sit back and giggle. If Brazil can do this, we sure can. I'm not looking to become an Exxon killer. But I do believe that a window exists here for some entrepreneurial patience. And I'm game. So now it's information gathering time. Brazil's crop for their fuels program is an engineered higher yielding plant. But even they believe that more efficiency is possible. I am sure that the southwestern US could provide the needed environ for growing. A few thousand acres as a pilot program would be sufficient to test feasibility and to work out the bugs. Now I need to address the production facility itself. The building itself is easy. I need to know about the equipment. It makes no sense to use old technology if something newer and more eficient can be designed from the start. Time to hunt the best gassification processing method too. No government grants or assistance desired here. The less government intervention the better. $2.5 million could launch this rather quickly. It's business plan writing time.
Personally, i don't think that key is alcohol production - or even hydrogen production. Not that adding alcohol to gasoline isn't good idea, but it is just that - just additive. Western world engines are just not equipped to run sole alcohol. Whatever fuel would be, it will need to be similar to todays fuels. Moreover, compatible to todays infrastructure. Therefore synthetic fuels is way to go. Luckily creating that is no problem, though there are only 2 companies that i know of who make equipment to such. You can use plain hay to fuel raw-material. So, aquiring farmlaind might not be that hard. Point is, that current crude distills prices creationg of śuch processing plant could be economically feasible. But i don't think that mere $2.5 mil would do, though i never have done exact calculations. But if you are serius about that, don't hesitate to contact me, i'll be partner right away to startup company
One word - water. There's a reason cane grows in Hawaii and not Arizona. Your chances of getting ground or surface water in sufficient quantities to grow cane is about zero. Here in Idaho, a fair number of farmers didn't plant their spuds last year because they were junior water rights holders and there was no water left for them - and they've been farming for generations. I can only imagine the futility of trying to secure any water rights in the southwest. Remember, the Colorado river is the main source of water for the southwest and it is overallocated already. You might be onto a good idea, but definitely the wrong location.
Canyonman00, far be it from me to rain on your parade. If you think there is an opportunity here, by all means go for it. I am a little dubious about your numbers so far though. You claim farmable land with water rights for $25/acre? If this is true it is the deal of a lifetime just for the water. I live in Reno and an acrefoot of water from the irrigation system has reached the price of $30,000. This is an overvalued market because of the housing boom, but I can't imagine prices that cheap anywhere in the southwest for land with water. The cost of farm equipment is very high too. What sort of timeline are you looking at? Just as an aside, I saw something on a news program (60 Minutes of something like that) where they were talking about some plant native to the southwest that had a low water requirement that was a possible candidate for alcohol production. It was suitable for traditional farming methods (swathing and bailing, etc.). I think the plant was found in the Texas panhandle, but I didn't really pay to close attention as it didn't seem that important to me personally. Perhaps an inquiry at some of the university ag depts. might yield some valuable info. Good luck.
What do you guys think of planting hemp to make ethanol? It's drought tolerant, few pesticides are needed and my hunch is that the yield per acre is superior.
My associate is researching this for me this week. I'm researching desalination plant possibilities here also. Actually, I've e-mailed these guys for some constructive conversation. http://watermakers.net/