Corn based ehtanol might indeed be the lower end of the bang for the buck but at least it's a crop that is useful for things other than fuel or sugar. I agree with the sugar cane and sugar beet solutions but unless they can grow accross the country like corn/maize then that limits the output. I'd like to see such crops replace tobacco.

You have to wait until switch grass grows to a height of something like 6 to 8 feet before it can be used.

As I've said before though, it's going to take a combination of these technologies to actually impact the situation. Alone a wind generator only produces so much wattage, cover it with solar cells and you generate more per covered area. Adapt technologies to collect the static electricity generated by the blades moving through the air (as they do in a helicopter) and you generate more, etc. etc.