Corn stover, garden waste such as grass clippings, and offcuts from forestry and timber production are better bets, she reckons.

ECONOMIST: Biochar could enrich soils and cut greenhouse gases as well

The appealing idea is that native plants like switchgrass and agricultural leftovers like wheat straw and corn stover could be turned into ethanol.

FORBES: Field of Dreamers

The appealing idea is that plants native to the U.S., like switchgrass, and agricultural leftovers like wheat straw and corn stover could be turned into ethanol.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The microbe, discovered by microbiologists from the University of Massachusetts at the Quabbin Reservoir in western Massachusetts, digests and ferments a wide variety of feedstocks, including corn stover, corn cobs, switchgrass, and sugar cane bagasse.

FORBES: Soros-backed Biofuels Company Qteros Partners With Indian Ethanol Plant Builder

According to Julie Major, of the International Biochar Initiative, a lobby group based in Maine, infusing savannah in Colombia with biochar made from corn stover (the waste left over when maize is harvested) caused crops there to tower over their char-less peers.

ECONOMIST: Biochar could enrich soils and cut greenhouse gases as well

Eventually, says Gruber, his fermenting process will be adapted to use corn stalks or wheat straw--known as stover and now sold as cheap animal feed or plowed back into soil--to further knock down the cost.

FORBES: Magazine Article