Ethanol: The billion-dollar harvest.

摘要

Ethanol has dominated headlines as people and governments invest in alternative forms of energy. The biofuel is made from corn kernels and is being touted as the fuel of the future.; Minnesota was the first state to require a blend of 10 percent ethanol in gasoline. For farmers and townspeople in that state, ethanol has been a golden harvest. The ethanol industry has provided more than 6,000 jobs and pumped {dollar}1.7 billion into the economy.; But researchers consider corn ethanol a "first-generation biofuel" and predict that attention will shift to cellulosic ethanol. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates cellulosic ethanol could replace at least 30 percent of the country's oil demands, instead of the 12 percent that corn ethanol could replace. Iogen, based in Ottawa, Canada, is a leader in cellulosic ethanol research. It operates the world's only commercial cellulosic ethanol plant and is preparing to enter the energy market.