Kudzu could be the next biofuel

It has caused the southeast millions in property and crop damage, but a researcher in Canada and colleagues at the U.S. Department of Agriculture say the invasive kudzu vine could be an important new source of bioethanol.

Their findings come at a time when experts are rethinking whether corn is best suited for ethanol production as a biofuel alternative to gasoline. The rise in ethanol demand has prompted concerns over food supply shortages, which in turn have contributed to considerable spikes in food prices worldwide.
The kudzu vine could ease the problem, said University of Toronto professor Rowan Sage, one of eight authors whose study was published recently in Biomass & Bioenergy.

The plant is a fast-growing, woody vine that can grow up to 60 feet in one season. Its underground roots, around the diameter of an adult forearm, store plenty of starch essential for ethanol production. Kudzu exists mostly in the southeast but is native to China and Japan, where the starchy roots have long been used for cooking and thickening sauces.

In the U.S., especially in the southeast where it grows rampantly, the plant is considered a nuisance.

AJC