Keimyung University Professor Yoon Kyung-pyo and Kyungpook National University Professor Kim Soon-kwon succeeded in producing recycled resource energy, bio-ethanol, using cornstalks. Owing to this success, it can be possible to get cheap and plentiful bio-ethanol energy using non-food agricultural by-products. On October 27, a member of the research team said, “The distinctive feature of this development is in its not using corn but cornstalks, and we could extract bio-ethanol through using a much smaller amount of enzyme.”

America first developed bio-ethanol extraction from corn, but this success received criticism due to the food shortage crisis. However, as the food shortage crisis worries have disappeared, researchers started to extract sources of energy from agricultural non-food by-products. Purdue University developed bio-ethanol extraction technology from fibers, and Professor Yoon developed a new extraction technology and is preparing to apply for an international patent.

Professor Yoon said, “If we can make eco-friendly bio-ethanol by using such by-products as cornstalks, we can not only decrease the amount of greenhouse gases causing the present climatic change or energy crisis but also contribute to increasing farm incomes or creating a bigger number of green jobs.”