Intensified farming this season to capitalize on high corn and soybean prices could be a boon for Wisconsin farmers but also could have a harmful effect on wildlife habitat, water quality and soil erosion control.

Can the lowly algae ease a growing food-versus-fuel debate? A growing number of start-ups are betting against the dominant biofuel crops--corn and soy--and looking to sidestep the backlash against biofuels, which are being blamed in part for higher food prices and deforestation around the world.

There are legitimate concerns about the sustainability of some biofuel sources and they have taken a lot of criticism. But it is important to put this in perspective, since, as is often the case, the truth probably lies somewhere in between the extreme viewpoints.

America's love affair with corn-based ethanol is cooling -- at least in Washington.

An innovative company specializing in the development and production of next-generation biofuels from non-food sources will locate a commercial demonstration production plant in Westmoreland County, Governor Edward G. Rendell announced today.

What if you could make fuel for your car in your backyard for less than you pay at the pump? Would you?

Amyris, a rapidly growing biotech company that coaxes genetically enhanced microbes to produce fuel and medicine, has signed a deal with two Brazilian companies to come out with a sugar-cane-based diesel and other fuels by 2010.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last night that student teams from Loyola University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are among six teams nationwide to win its annual People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) competition. Loyola University students will build a laboratory to produce biodiesel from their cafeteria's vegetable oil waste, and the University of Illinois students will create a sustainable water development program for rural Nigeria.

Researchers at Western Michigan University (WMU) are working to develop two biofuel production processes that could help the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan move toward environmental sustainability. The goal of the first project, Bronco Biodiesel, is to perfect a process to convert trap grease, used vegetable oil from restaurants and other facilities, into biodiesel. The second project, which is still in its early stages will attempt to find a viable algae strain that could be used for both waste treatment and as a feedstock for biodiesel or ethanol production.

In an effort to help boost the nation's supply of biofuels, researchers have created three strains of genetically modified corn to manufacture enzymes that break down the plant's cellulose into sugars that can be fermented into ethanol. Incorporating such enzymes directly into the plants could reduce the cost of converting cellulose into biofuel.