‘Grassoline’ could be green fuel of the future

While we’re cursing the pumps, scientists are searching for alternatives.

This grass is not just greener, it could be powering your car.

“So, we have a billions tons a year of this stuff and it just, it sits around and it rots and it goes up into the atmosphere. Why not use that and make energy out of it before it rots?“ said John Regalbuto of the National Science Foundation.

In Brazil, nine out of 10 cars run on sugar cane ethanol. In the United States, corn-based ethanol is more of a supplement.

But technological leaps are making it possible to break down farm leftovers like corn stalks, grass, weeds and wood to be used as fuel

“We can utilize the existing infrastructure of oil pipelines, of storage tanks, of refineries and of the engines. We won’t have to make any modifications to engines or anything,“ Regalbuto said.

Oil giants like Shell are dipping their toe into the biofuel pool, and so is Exxon, which hopes to one day make gasoline from algae.

“We’re pretty excited about it actually. We see this as a potential new source of fuel that has lots of benefits. It’s renewable fuel. It can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide us all with a new source of energy,“ said Alan Jeffers, a spokesman for ExxonMobil.

But how soon?

“I think there’s a lot of optimism relative to the vehicle fleet we have today. Expect the same cars to become more efficient and to use more of some different fuels. But new cars, new fuels - long way off,“ energy analyst Kevin Book said.

Meanwhile, scientists continue the search for green fuels that make sense—and save money.