Searching for an Alternative to Corn-Based Ethanol

The popularity of ethanol fuels -- which are, for the moment, reliant on corn -- have driven food prices up and prompted scientists and biotechnology companies to find other, non-corn-based biofuel sources, reports the Associated Press.

Researchers are racing against time. Already, 114 U.S. ethanol biorefineries are in operation and 80 more are under construction. Producers made nearly 5 billion gallons of ethanol last year, a 25 percent increase from the previous year.

And nearly all of it was made from edible corn kernels.

That’s good news for U.S. farmers, but consumers are suffering at the checkout stand because corn prices have nearly doubled over the last two years and will continue to climb.

And with farmers planting corn at unprecedented rates, often instead of other crops, prices for other products may soon rise as well. [...]

That’s why genetic engineers from Berkeley to Florida are racing to produce ethanol without corn. They’re looking into termite guts, the human urinary tract and sap from palm trees for exotic microbes that can produce alternative fuel sources.

One more reason why so many people are searching for new biofuel sources: industrial corn farming is a pesticide-heavy, environmentally draining operation.

Biotech Seeks to Ease Reliance on Corn [Associated Press]
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Image: Pete Birkinshaw*