It depends on whether Vinod is after an investment angle or not. Will he see ethanol as a poor bet, unless he can get his hands on short term government funds? Perhaps coal to liquids is the next big (short lived) thing.

What needs to be got through to people who have influence is that we need to decide whether we head for sustainability or for an ever decreasing economic cycle where boom is followed by bust, is followed by smaller boom, is followed by bust, etc. I don't know what the long term, and probably long lasting, end scenario is for the boom bust cycle, but I'll bet it isn't going to be pleasant and will be with a much smaller population. If we want to head for sustainability, then a very different society and economy will need to be engineered, one that will never result in people like Vinod (at least not in wealth).

So, assuming a goal of sustainability, any cheap non-renewable energy we have left needs to be directed only to sustainability projects (or at least increasingly so). Any carbon tax must have a specific measurable aim of reducing oil, gas and coal use for leisure, and later for more "essential" uses. Saved oil, gas and coal must then be put to use in building sustainable infrastructure; sustainable without oil, gas, or coal.

Tony