Ford Reiche, the CEO of Safe Handling Rail, knows how to take great risks and calculated chances. He’s co-piloted, after all, a 22-foot, 250-horsepower inflatable between Portland and Nova Scotia faster than any sane mariner had attempted. With a broken navigation system, no less.

But what Reiche’s company unveiled last week – a 150-acre ethanol terminal at the Port of Auburn – is perhaps his greatest gambit. Safe Handling has invested millions into the chance ethanol develops from a complementary, controversial biofuel into a mainstream, feasible petroleum substitute.

There’s no guarantee. Environmentalists are split on the corn-based fuel’s future. Although ethanol is viewed as critical for reducing the national demand for oil, fear exists that the industrial agriculture required to meet increased ethanol demands is too environmentally dangerous.

Then there’s the marketability of ethanol. There isn’t a single E85 – ethanol fuel – station in northern New England. Savings from flexfuel as a gasoline substitute are also questionable; E85 is cheaper per gallon than gasoline, but also appreciably less efficient – as much as 27 percent, some studies say.

This said, given the overwhelming carbon-based petroleum addiction of Maine and the United States in general, ethanol is also viewed as savior. The energy bill passed by Congress last week, days after Safe Handling displayed its terminal, contains massive, aggressive mandates for ethanol production.

By 2022, The New York Times reports, America is expected to use 21 billion gallons of ethanol made from many sources – corn, wood, even garbage. In Maine, the Legislature has ordered studies into an E85 pilot program, as well as incentives for schools, businesses, etc. to invest into biofuels.

Both studies are due by Jan. 31, from the Department of Transportation and Office of Energy Independence, respectively.

Safe Handling and Auburn is now positioned to become the region’s hub for importing and transporting ethanol, as the federal government’s momentum pushes its production in the Midwest, and state government advocates for its expanded utilization in Maine.

Reiche, however, has also wisely aligned with the wood waste-based ethanol development efforts occurring at the University of Maine. If and when this state joins the ethanol movement, it appears, Safe Handling will not only bring it here, but potentially also export fuel to the nation as well.

A great deal of hope is attached to ethanol, amplified by the ever-growing cost of oil. Unless prices of petroleum drop – which is highly unlikely – the public hue and cry for alternatives will only increase. With this sparkling new facility in Auburn, Safe Handling is ahead of this curve.

Now what it needs is the potential, and production, of ethanol to catch up with it.