A column in today’s Greenwire [subscription required] reports that POET, the nation’s largest ethanol producer, won an $80 million DOE grant to turn corn cobs into ethanol.  Greenwire also notes that in December 2007, Congress upped the tax credit for cellulosic ethanol to $1.01 per gallon.

John Ashworth, a team leader at DOE’s Renewable Energy Laboratory, predicts that as gasoline prices continue to rise, carmakers will produce more flex fuel (E-85-capable) vehicles, and gasoline stations will install pumps like those in Brazil, which offer a wide range of ethanol blends. He estimates that by 2010 or 2011, POET and its competitors will produce about 200 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol a year.