Brazil is supposedly the biggest producer of ethanol and runs over 80% of their cars on it. They make ethanol from sugar (cane?). So my thought: Why not ramp up the sugar beet industry in California again for ethanol? The growing expertese it there and many of the old plants are sitting empty. Why not convert them into ethanol plants (isn't the plant on the Santa Maria Valley RR being converted as we speak?).

Of course for us railfans that would mean seeing the beet trains running again (yay).