The NCGA reported earlier this week that through funding from the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council and the University of Minnesota's Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment, engineers at the university have invented the first reactor capable of efficiently producing hydrogen from ethanol.

Ethanol fuel cells are an idea whose time has come, says Dr. Lanny Schmidt, a University of Minnesota chemical engineer who led a study on developing a cleaner-burning technology for fuel cells. Schmidt said the study proves the feasibility of using renewable hydrogen as an energy source.

According to the study, a cleaner-burning renewable fuel such as ethanol can produce hydrogen in a reactor to heat small homes and power cars more efficiently than the older fossil fuel technologies of oil and gas.

The study proves hydrogen fuel cells are clean-burning and efficient, but an infrastructure that adequately supports widespread use of the technology has not yet been developed.

The university researchers believe their reactor will produce hydrogen exclusively from corn-based ethanol and do it less expensively. Schmidt said using corn ethanol to generate hydrogen would benefit both rural and urban economies, as well as the environment.

"This burgeoning technology not only improves the environment through cleaner emissions, but it also promotes another new use of renewable fuels," said NCGA member Duane Adams, a Minnesota grower who has actively promoted ethanol fuel cell research. "This is not just a small scale possibility, but has broad economic ramifications for agriculture producers. Lanny Schmidt's work has transformed the concept of hydrogen-powered vehicles from a dream to a reality."