Ten miles south of Geneva --- between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes --- lies the Town of Romulus. This is rural America, defined last Wednesday night by clouds of fog and thousands of Canada geese hovering over flooded spring cornfields. I was the 150th person to sign in at the firehouse -- in a town of 3600. Behind me were as many more, lined up two abreast to the road. Fox News was there, as were other reporters, photographers, and videographers without identifying logos.

This was the first in a series of informational meetings presented by California-based Cilion, a company recently entering the ethanol production business. Cilion is backed by an impressive line-up of investors, including Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla and British business tycoon Sir Richard Branson. The company has raised a few hundred million dollars and plans to build a series of ethanol plants across the country. They've partnered with 100 local farmers to form Empire Green Biofuels, and they hope to build a flagship plant at the Seneca Army Depot in Romulus.

At Wednesday's meeting, the Cilion representative from California gave the presentation on the proposed plant to a somber-faced, standing-room-only crowd packed into the firehouse.

Ethanol production could be a very good thing. Ethanol and its saleable by-products --- CO2 and cattle feed --- could boost the economy. Since ethanol needs to be piped, not trucked to its end-users, the ideal plants will be close to large population centers: i.e., New York. For once, Upstate New York may be in the right spot at the right time. But the demand for ethanol will likely drive up the price of corn --- the main ingredient --- which will impact not only the cost of ethanol, but dairy farmers who buy feed corn.

While Left Coast Cilion has the dough and technology to build the plant, its officials have their work cut out for them. The white-deer people turned out for the meeting, as did the bird people, the environmental people, the traffic-congestion people, and the just-plain-skeptical people.

Those with questions identified themselves. They hailed from Ithaca, Waterloo, Rochester, and other nearby towns. Everywhere, it seemed, but Romulus. They asked biting questions that, collectively, might have caused Napoleon himself to wave a white flag. At one point, the presenter commented: "It is quite hot in here. Can we open a window?"

One questioner wanted to know if each one of the nine species of willows to be grown for fuel had been tested for possible harmful effect on grazing deer. A retired miner wanted to know why the company doesn't drill a well 3,000 feet deep, pipe in Seneca Lake water, and convert it to steam power.

An ethanol plant requires a few dozen acres. But Empire Green Biofuels wants close to 5,000 acres of Depot land. They want on-site test plots to experiment --- in collaboration with nearby Cornell University --- with different types of willows, poplars, and switch grasses, used for plant fuel. They also hope to grow for consumption about 2000 acres of these plants. The plant will actually require an estimated 30,000 acres of corn per year --- that's 45 square miles --- and will draw on many towns and counties.

Despite skepticism on the part of some folks, there was support voiced by others, and it is likely that Empire Green Biofuels will press on. The partnership hopes to have the ethanol plant up and running by spring of 2009.

Seneca County's Industrial Development director, Glenn Cooke, said afterward that he felt the meeting was "extremely beneficial." It addressed uncertainties about the proposed plant, he said, and dispelled distorted information he said has been disseminated by opponents.

Many issues still need to be addressed, however, including technical, environmental, municipal taxes, and cost.

Another informational meeting is scheduled for April 25. No location has been set.