Scientists from the Idaho National Laboratory on Wednesday at the Herrett Center at the College of Southern Idaho addressed what some say is the greatest challenge the United States faces in the next 50 to 100 years: energy.

Kurt Myers, an electrical engineer with the INL Wind Energy Program, said Idaho is increasing its ability to take advantage of the area's wind resources.

"We're ramping up pretty fast," Myers said. Idaho currently generates 75 megawatts of electricity through wind harvesting, but Myers said reaching a goal of 20 percent of electricity produced by wind would require producing 5,594 megawatts.

Renewable Energy Systems, a UK-based company, is currently working on a wind farm in China Mountain on the Idaho-Nevada border. The wind farm will begin producing 200 megawatts of energy and 2010. Those first 200 megawatts of electricity will be sold to Nevada, said Scott Krigen, a senior project developer with RES America Developments.

Alternatives for transportation fuel can come in part from cellulosic ethanol, said Bob Neilson, manager of INL's Biofuels and Renewable Energy Technologies. Cellulosic ethanol is often produced from plant matter that is considered waste like cornstalks.

"We're looking at cellulosic ethanol as a way to help improve the situation with transportation issues in this country," Neilson said.

Neilson said the cellulosic ethanol needs to be competitive with traditional fuels like gasoline in terms of cost. The town of Shelley has been discussed as the possible location for an ethanol plant for Canadian company Iogen, Neilson said.

INL associate laboratory director Bill Rogers said the United States will still rely in part on carbon fuels such as oil and gas, but the nation will need to be more careful about how it consumes energy.

"What this is calling out for is for us to manage this carbon much more efficiently than we have in the past," Rogers said.

Rogers suggested using a combination of energy sources - such as combining nuclear, fossil fuels, and biomass - might cost more, but it could be safer for the environment.

"It's expensive, but it's no longer unrealistic," Rogers said.

However, Rogers remained unoptimistic that the federal government would get the ball rolling on combined energy production.

"It's truly going to be the states that have the responsibilities within their boundaries to do this," Rogers said.