Honda develops new way to make biofuel that could boost environmentally friendly cars - Breaking - Technology - smh.com.au

Honda Motor Co. has developed a way to make ethanol fuel from plant waste matter in a process that has the potential to expand the use of biofuels that fight global warming, the Japanese automaker said Thursday.
Existing bio-ethanol production faces supply limits because it uses sugar and starch of sugarcane or from corn, both of which are also utilized as food. By tapping far greater supplies of inedible plant matter, such as stalks, leaves and rice straw, the new fuel takes a step toward making biofuels more practical, Tokyo-based Honda said in release.
The breakthrough comes as automakers look for alternatives to petroleum-based fuels that will not release greenhouse gases that fan global warming. Surging oil prices have also spurred companies to develop new fuels that may be cheaper and not as prone to supply disruptions.
"Expansion of biomass utilization holds enormous potential as a major step forward toward the realization of an energy sustainable society," Honda said.
Honda developed the technology with Honda R&D Co. and the Kyoto-based Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth. The process uses a special microorganism to better convert sugars in the plant matter to alcohol, and another step that then boosts the efficiency of the conversion.
The partners plan to work next on a refinery that can produce not only ethanol, but other industrial compounds from plant matter.