Energy secretary: Need ethanol sources other than corn

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Friday that more research is needed for making ethanol out of such things as wood chips because the country will eventually run into supply problems with corn.

Speaking to a meeting of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Bodman said the ethanol industry now consumes roughly 14 percent of the country’s corn crop.

The crop’s regular purpose as human and animal feed will eventually compete with the demand for ethanol, driving up prices.

“We’re beginning to run into a limit of how much ethanol we can get from corn,” Bodman said, standing in a state with three active ethanol plants and a legislative proposal to force oil companies to sell gasoline with 10 percent ethanol.

AP