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Green News. |
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7 March 2007 GLOBAL: Could the termite be a new source of fuel? |
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Rio de Janeiro - Termites may provide a new way to produce ethanol that could one day surpass corn and sugar cane-based technology, a top UN environment official wrote in a Brazilian newspaper on Monday. Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, said in the Gazeta Mercantil daily that termites host microbes that can transform wood waste into sugar for ethanol production "in an effective and economic way." The United States is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in alternative fuels and part of it is being spent on termites, Steiner said. Similar European-funded studies are also underway in tropical insect laboratories in Kenya, he added. The termite technology could surpass "in a few years" corn and sugar cane-based ethanol, used by the United States and Brazil respectively, Steiner said. The topic could come up when President George Bush meets with Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Sao Paulo on Friday, he said. Brazil and the United States are the world's biggest ethanol producers. "When the president of Brazil and the United States meet this week, the unexpected topic of termites could be one of the priorities," Steiner wrote. Bush will leaves on a Latin America tour on Thursday to visit Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico. His trip ends March 14. |