USDA to help ethanol plants look for efficiencies

Reuters
Mon Jan 26, 2009 12:55pm EST

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department will help the struggling ethanol industry identify the most efficient ways to produce the alternative fuel, so more plants can stay afloat, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Monday.

The USDA should research, develop and promote "best practices" to improve efficiency at corn-based ethanol plants, which have been hit hard by volatile corn prices, followed by a sharp drop in demand for the biofuel, which is more expensive than gasoline, Vilsack said.

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