All is not lost for ethanol

With things like the Food Before Fuel campaign spurring talk about ethanol’s role in driving up food prices, and a bill facing Congress that could freeze the ethanol mandate, it’s important to note that progress is still being made towards a more efficient, less expensive ethanol production system. Specifically, DuPont and Genencor are combining their efforts to (they hope) simplify the production process.

The full story (nipped from Green Car Congress) is here; interestingly, this $140 million venture “will initially target corn stover and sugar cane bagasse,” the two main sources for ethanol fuel, but will grow to include “multiple ligno-cellulosic feedstocks including wheat straw, a variety of energy crops and other biomass sources.” This could be a response to research suggesting that switchgrass produces more usable ethanol fuel than corn does. And widening the source pool might help keep food costs down in the future, specifically by easing the burden on corn and sugar, so this could be a net gain for alternative fuels.

It’s also important to note that, like every other industry in the face of mounting criticism, ethanol is rallying. Funny how that works.

5/22/08 edit: The Wall Street Journal would have a huge bone to pick with that ending sentence.