Officials from the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and some of the state's top ethanol experts just returned from a mission to Brazil to learn everything they could about how the South American country has built a vibrant alternative fuel industry.
 

When the Democrats first took over the Senate early this year, the one energy bill the leadership was confident it could pass was a renewable portfolio standard, or RPS—a requirement that at some time in the future, utilities will generate a higher percentage of their electricity from wind, solar, or other renewable energy sources. After all, 29 states have already adopted such requirements, and the Republican-controlled Senate passed such a bill in 2005; it was thrown out only because the House wouldn't agree.
 

 Solar energy is the light alternative to a carbon-rich energy diet, and it may be the only renewable energy that can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, engineers say. 

"Wind can play some role, as can biofuels and geothermal, but they are all too small," said Erin Baker of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. "The three really big players are solar energy, nuclear power and carbon capture and storage."