With about 200 million cars and trucks on the road, guzzling 73 billion gallons of gasoline, there’s a definite environmental need to cut our consumption.

Of the various ways we’re attempting to drop our fossil fuel consumption, one is diluting gas with ethanol. Last week, the EPA approved an increase in the amount of ethanol legally allowed in our gas from 10 to 15% starting summer 2010.

The ethanol produced in the U.S. is typically made from corn, of which we grew 328,207.00 (1000 MT) this year. Approximately 6% of the corn crop goes on to become ethanol, and 90% of ethanol is made from corn. The current method of making ethanol is a starch-based process, which uses corn, wheat, barley, grain sorghum, potatoes, and cheese whey as its inputs.

Corn-based ethanol has drawn criticism by bringing attention to the fact that our farmers are producing millions of tons of inedible corn that’s turned into fuel for our cars while hunger and poverty run rampant in our own country and abroad. Critics suggest we stop planting corn that will eventually become ethanol, and instead plant food for humans.

If our farmers did choose to grow only human food, could we still have ethanol? Many researchers are trying to figure that out, and have offered several options.

Biofuel-based ethanol would use a cellulosic process, rather than the standard starch-based process, to convert plant waste into fuel. This type of production could use grasses, wood chips, and plant waste as inputs. However, it would require new or updated facilities for production as well as coordination with suppliers to acquire the inputs. In order for new practices to be adopted, they need to be a low enough cost and have a high enough rate of return that farmers and manufacturers will want to adopt them, and that’s the point biofuel technology is attempting to reach.

Another option about to go into experimental production is manure-based ethanol. Currently, cow manure can be used to generate energy and electricity through methane digesters, and along those same lines, it may be a candidate for ethanol. Researchers in Texas have developed a process to make ethanol from manure, and are constructing a methane digester powered processing facility on a dairy farm. As with biofuel, manure-based ethanol is seeking that sweet point where it becomes a viable competitor to the standard starch-based process.

As new technology develops and research funds flow to alternative energy and technology projects, we should expect to see breakthroughs in ethanol production. Alternative fuel technology is booming in its development stage, soon to burst into our lives.