Corn or maize from the family of grasses is commonly used as food in itself. It is also used as raw material for the production of starch and flour. In addition, if you have problems with costly fuel, corn stalks maybe the answer.

We have heard a lot about biomass, a fuel energy that can be derived directly or indirectly from biological sources like woods or plants and manure of animals. The recent study of biomass is making use of corn stalks and popular trees to run cars.

Bruce Dale, Michigan State Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, makes fuel from popular trees and corn stalks. Dale is internationally known for his research on making ethanol from plant biomass. He has been in the service of science research for 30 years.

After crop is harvested, the stems, leaves stalks, and trunks of plants and trees are discarded as waste. The researcher focused on how to make ethanol from these wastes. The most difficult part of making ethanol from biomass is the breaking down of cellulose. Thus, he developed a patented pretreatment process for biomass, the Ammonia Fiber Expansion (AFEX), which works on the breakdown of cellulose. The process is believed to make the production of biomass more effective and refined. In time, the pretreatment process is designed to completely replace gasoline and diesel with cellulose – derived biofuels that are cheaper, safer for the environment, and much better than petroleum – derived fuels.