Henry Ford once called it “the fuel of the future” and environmentalists today consider it to be much more environmentally friendly than gasoline, as it cuts down carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides and sulfur oxide emissions and have a low production of greenhouse gases. The ethanol is currently made of corn, but according to scientific studies, the energy invested exceeds the energy returned.

The newest alternative to an energy efficient ethanol production is replacing corn as the mail fuel crop to produce bioethanol, with cellulosic crops, such as switchgrass (a perennial grass). According to researchers, if gasoline is to be replaced with ethanol, greenhouse gas emission will be reduced by 94 percents.

The study was conducted on Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota farm lands over a five year period, which resulted in 54 percent more energy yielded from switchgrass compared to 25 percent for corn. The scientists in charge of the study also said that switchgrass will definitely not replace food crops, as it will be just as efficient if cultivated on marginal land. However, switching from gasoline to ethanol though will be hard work, as the process of obtaining ethanol from switchgrass is a complicated one.

But despite the optimistic approach of the study, environmentalists disagree with the production of bioethanol from switchgrass, saying that the production will most certainly not meet the energy goals and furthermore, it will need intense irrigation processes, which will increase the pressure on water resources.

In October 2007, environmentalists stood against the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), a program intended to increase the ethanol production, by saying that it “will lead to substantial environmental damage and a system of biofuels production that will not benefit family farmers … will not promote sustainable agriculture and will not mitigate global climate change.”

What the United States will decide on bioethanol production remains to be seen, as scientists continue to search for new alternatives to the environmental-unfriendly gasoline fuel. Brazil already has the biggest fuel ethanol production in the world, and almost 50 % of its cars are able to use ethanol as fuel.