Ethanol

Not only does enthanol eat corn and thereby run up the price of tortillas, it is a "lousy fuel," says The Economist in its September 29 issue. The better stuff has more than ethanol's two carbon atoms in each molecule. Butanol, with four atoms, is even better and octonal, with eight atoms, tops butanol. Scientists and entrepreneurs are now taking the next step, making their own fuel that behaves like gasoline but is not a hydrocarbon, or at least not a hydrocardon from the ground. So much for running out of fuel. Take that, Al Gore. The idea is to find molecules that are similar to hydrocarbons and turn them into fuel. "Synthetic biology" is the term of art. See http://economist.com.