Options to Corn-Based Ethanol Sought

Washington DC April 16, 2007; The AIADA newsletter reported that the growth in popularity of ethanol is sending the prices on corn supplies sky high.

The cost of chicken and beef in the United States ticked up because feed is more expensive. The Detroit Free Press reports that scientists are seeking to remove corn from the ethanol equation before it further impacts food prices.

"There is enormous growth potential" for alternative fuels, said McKinsey & Co. analyst Jens Riese. "But we need to be smarter than just building the next corn ethanol plant."

Already, 114 U.S. ethanol bio-refineries are in operation, and 80 more are under construction. That's good news for U.S. farmers, but consumers are suffering at the checkout because corn prices have nearly doubled during the last two years and will continue to climb. And with farmers planting corn at high rates, often instead of other crops, prices for other products may rise soon as well.

That's why genetic engineers from Berkeley, Calif., 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.