Filed under: Biodiesel, Ethanol
That’s genetically modified not General Motors. In most other developed countries of the world outside of the United States GM crops have not exactly caught on. In fact most people want nothing to do with so-called Franken-food. However the Japanese agriculture ministry is now taking a look at the use of GM crops as a feedstock for biofuels rather than food or feed. Ultimately they would like to see the new hybrids approved for human consumption as well but that’s another story.
But before that happens they want to see GM crops commercialized for non-food applications like biofuels. Since genetically modified rice can yield more grain per acre it would be preferred as a fuel feedstock. However even with that it would be unlikely that there would not be enough acreage to really make domestic biofuel a viable alternative in Japan. One of the other concerns with modified plants is that when grown in the open they can cross-pollinate with conventional versions, contaminating those as well.
[Source: The Asahi Shimbun]
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