Bio-ethanol - good or bad as a fuel?

Of late there has been a lot of criticism of bio-ethanol as a fuel, especially that derived from what would otherwise be used as food crops. But this article from Business Week questions a few of the criticisms, and points out that the rush, at least in the USA, to produce ethanol from corn (we still call it maize on our side of the pond), has not contributed as much to the increasing cost of corn than is assumed.

A thought provoking article that is well worth a perusal.

Ethanol from household waste and old tyres?

Seems like a good day for interesting developments so far. This one from motortorque.com reports how general motors and Coskata have signed an agreement to utilise Coskata's technology to "derive cellulosic ethanol from household waste, wood, plastic bottles and old tyres using bacteria."

They "believe the process is cleaner than using crops - with one study claiming that study cellulosic ethanol up to 90% less greenhouse gas than petrol and 30% cheaper to produce." "The company says it can turn four tyres into seven gallons of ethanol and two bales of hay into five gallons for under $1 per gallon."

Sounds a lot better than turning corn into ethanol to me. There are an awful lot of used tyres lying around our planet and anything that can turn household waste into a potentially useful fuel has surely got to be better than dumping it into landfill?