With the sharp rise in demand for fuels, a U.S. Agriculture Department advisory committee plans of using biotechnology for boosting energy output of crops that are used in making renewable fuels.
It has plans of using genetic engineering for adding traits to food crops and enhancing energy production. The food crops include corn and soybeans, and nonfood crops, like grasses and trees.
The Federal law targets of using 7.5 billion gallons (28.4 billion liters) of renewable fuels annually by 2012. The U.S. fuel ethanol industry is growing rapidly with the present capacity to distill 4.8 billion gallons of motor fuel — mostly from corn — this year.
