Regardless of the solution – be it ethanol, wind power or otherwise – Americans need to shift away from oil dependence, policymakers and ethanol proponents said Saturday.

“Ethanol has been part of this conference from the beginning,” said Tom Slunecka, executive director of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

Slunecka spoke during the closing panel of the Powershift 2006 workshop at Kansas University. The workshop, sponsored by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit 20/20 Vision and KU Environs, examined several energy solutions but featured many speakers and Kansas officials with experience, and a stake, in ethanol.

Slunecka and other national ethanol experts on Saturday touted the corn-based fuel’s ability to help the country wean its way off of foreign oil, which they described as environmentally dangerous and a national security risk.

Kenneth Frahm, chairman of the Kansas Energy Council, said ethanol and other sources of energy could mean a boon to Kansas farmers.

And when he returns to his farm in Colby, the prospects for ethanol seem even better.

“Now, I love it,” he said of his perspective as a farmer.

Joe Spease, president of Pristine Power, explains his position on hydrogen power at the PowerShift Conference at Kansas University. Students, clean energy supporters and representatives from national and state organizations converged on Kansas University on Saturday to talk about possible solutions to break our nation's dependence on oil.

But the arguments had their flaws, several audience members said. Ethanol is costly to produce and requires some other energy source to create.

Because of its relatively weak energy output, ethanol can’t power nearly as much per gallon as traditional oil.

Megan Corazzin, a KU student, voiced concerns of the pro-ethanol stance of many of the speakers.

“I was warned this was going to be biased,” Corazzin said. “I’m going to have to do the research on my own.”

Frahm admitted the fuel had problems, noting that if 40 percent of the nation’s corn was converted into ethanol, it would only cover 1 percent of the current fuel usage in the country today.

So throughout the conference, speakers pushed audience members to cut their fuel usage, whether that means driving less or buying a hybrid car – a topic that had its own workshop at the conference.

“These are common-sense economy ideas,” 20/20 Vision executive director Tom Collina said.

For some time, several Lawrence residents have expressed similar ideas, with smaller, more walkable communities as the cornerstone of a sustainable economy free from oil dependence.

Lawrence resident Laurie Ward has been actively engaged in promoting family farms, bicycling and walkable neighborhoods.

“We’re to the point that we have to make a shift,” she said.

Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polansky said that farmers markets and smaller farms were a great idea – something that could lessen the dependence on oil.

But there must be some degree of reality in lessening oil dependence, he said. Many people have grown accustomed to shopping at Wal-Mart and buying fruits and vegetables when they’re not in season.

“It might seem like I want it both ways, but I think we can,” Polansky said.

But to do that means making some changes to conserve fuel, speakers said. Hybrid cars help, as does mass transportation. And for all its flaws, ethanol and other alternative energy sources can cut into the nation’s gas habit, they said.

“We can break out of the shackles of oil,” Collina said. “We can choose the greener path.”