Americans have been hearing for years that ethanol is the answer to the country’s dependence on foreign oil.

And with U.S. oil consumption at record highs — more than 142 billion gallons a year — and gasoline prices fluctuating between $3.50 and $4 a gallon, it’s clear Americans need help.

Ethanol has slowly been creeping into the everyday lives of Americans. It’s difficult to go to the pump these days without seeing a sign that reads “contains 10 percent ethanol” or “15 percent ethanol.”

In the years ahead, those numbers will probably climb, in part because of the efforts of men like Richard Truslowe.

Truslowe, managing member of Bloomsburg-based developer LYCO 1, plans to build a facility for the storage and distribution of corn ethanol along Route 11 in Point Township, Northumberland County.

The Legislature included $42 million in the 2007-08 capital budget for the project — the first of its kind in the region and one of a few in Pennsylvania — though state Rep. Merle Phillips, R-108 of Sunbury RR2, called the budget a “wish list” and said money is released for a select few projects every year.

Still, the state and federal government are pumping billions into the ethanol industry, with the ultimate goal of producing 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel nationally by 2022, according to the National Renewable Fuels Standard.

So far, corn ethanol has been the only renewable fuel produced in the United States on a commercial level. But experts say it is not a viable fuel source for Pennsylvania, a state that uses more corn than it grows.

The future is in cellulose.

Cellulosic ethanol production expensive

“I don’t want you to think of (the movie) ‘Back to the Future,’ with the banana peel,” says Carl Shaffer, president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, as he tries to explain how virtually any organic material could one day be used as fuel. “Anything that’s growing can be used in the production of cellulosic ethanol.”

Switchgrass, corn stover, even wood chips, can be converted into cellulosic ethanol. The technology exists to make the stuff, just not cheaply enough to make it available to consumers.

“The technology isn’t totally developed for cellulosic ethanol,” Shaffer said. “How are we going to improve that? The technology improvements through the development of corn ethanol. You’ve got to develop the technology so it’s profitable.”

Opinions differ on when cellulosic ethanol will go mainstream.