Scientists Sweeten on Fruit Fuel

Simple sugars found in fruits like apples and oranges can be converted into a new type of bio-based car fuel that provides more energy than ethanol, the current hip gas alternative. US researchers say the dimethylfuran can store 40 percent more energy and is less volatile than its corn-based cousin, but its environmental impact is still unknown.

Critics claim such biofuels drive up food prices as farmers dedicate fields to fuel production. But British scientists have now discovered that not only crops, but wood, weeds and even plastic bags could be used to create biodiesel. Still, production facilities for the conversions would be far more expensive than current biofuel refineries, the BBC reports. (More ethanol stories.)