corn plants

With oil prices skyrocketing, the search is on for efficient and sustainable biofuels. Research published this month in Agronomy Journal examines one biofuel crop contender: corn stover.

Corn stover is made up of the leaves and stalks of corn plants that are left in the field after harvesting the edible corn grain.

Corn stover could supply as much as 25 percent of the biofuel crop needed by 2030.

An enzyme from a microbe that lives inside a cow's stomach is the key to turning corn plants into fuel. The enzyme that allows a cow to digest grasses and other plant fibers can be used to turn other plant fibers into simple sugars.

These simple sugars can be used to produce ethanol to power cars and trucks.