Ethanol from Wood

A friend forwarded this from the May 05, 2005 edition of the Christian Science Monitor. The article implies that the technology could be up and running commercially in two years or so.

Will wood help fill US energy needs?
By John K. Borchardt, Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Forget corn processing. Don't wait for switch grass. The real key to producing enough ethanol for America's cars and trucks this century is wood.

That's the contention of researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY). By revamping the way paper is made, they've found an economical way to extract important energy-rich sugars from the trees and then convert these sugars into ethanol, a gasoline additive, and other useful chemicals.

Read the whole thing.

ethanol