Is cellulosic ethanol going to be able to revive the struggling U.S. economy? Many Americans do not even know what cellulosic ethanol is, or how it benefits the country, but this biofuel may be the answer to rising oil prices and dependence on foreign nations for fossil fuels.

A lot of Americans are familiar with corn ethanol, but this biofuel can only help some because it not a total substitute for gasoline, but must be added to it. Cellulosic ethanol is a fuel for transportation that is both renewable and environmentally friendly because it burns much cleaner than fossil fuels, similar to other types of ethanol. The process of making this type of ethanol does not require pesticides, water, fertilizers, or any other type of energy. Cellulosic ethanol can be made from plants that are not typically used for food, such as switchgrass, wood products, agricultural waste, and sugarcane bagasse (biomass for sugarcane), as well as from a wide variety of feed stocks and food crops.

When conventional, grain-based ethanol is compared to cellulosic ethanol, the molecules of both are identical, yet they are different in the fact that cellulosic ethanol uses a portion of the feed stocks that is not edible, including corn leaves, stems and cereal straws. It can also use designated energy crops that are not at all used to produce food. Conventional ethanol only uses a small amount of the feed stock, and this part is the edible part. There are differences in the refining methods. Cellulosic ethanol involves a more complex process, but this type of ethanol will also yield more energy benefits and burn much cleaner than corn-based ethanol. Corn-based ethanol produces more greenhouse gas emissions.

The technology needed to create cellulosic ethanol is being researched, but right now it requires more fine-tuning before the process results in prices that are competitive with other fuel sources. Most researchers and analysts predict that within the next five or 10 years the technology will be available to make cellulosic ethanol on a large scale and at very competitive market prices. This means that within the next 10 years, future cars may run on farm wastes and other sources of cellulosic ethanol instead of fossil fuels.