In Quebec, we concentrate more on starch and carbohydrates rather than on oil, even though we do produce soya. We are interested in biodiesel. A lot of research has been done in cooperation with Ontario. Corn works very well in terms of water and energy use. Corn grain produces seven times the crude energy that it consumes. Currently, we are trying to use fermentable sugars that are found not only in corn grain but in the entire plant. Given the productivity of a field of corn, the recovery of fermentable sugars from the entire plant is a project that has a great deal of potential.
In Ontario, we are trying to develop varieties with a high sugar percentage in the overall plant, that is in the stem, the leaves and the cob. The idea is to have ethanol production from an acre of corn that one day will be as efficient as if it was made using only the cob or the corn grain starch. There is a lot of research being done on that at this time. We are also testing other plants, like sweet sorghum for example, a grain plant that produces a lot of sugar. We would use the entire plant in order to achieve a high rate of sugar production per cultivated acre.