University of Guelph researchers leading work on sugar corn for ethanol

In Canada, farmers might one day grow sugar corn, or sweet corn, for a potentially huge alternative fuels market through a new project involving University of Guelph researchers. Along with scientists from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), and Western University, the Guelph researchers will study sugar corn varieties whose higher sucrose concentrations might make them more suitable for making ethanol. The sugar comes from juices in corn stalks, similar to sugar from Brazilian sugar cane. Producers press the stalks to collect the juice, which is fermented into ethanol.