Chicago (IL) - An Illinois-based biofuels research company claims it can make ethanol for less than $1 a gallon. Coskata's system uses bacteria to convert almost any organic material into Ethanol. By this time next year, the company hopes to have a pilot plant capable of producing 40,000 gallons annually. A commercial plant should be online in 2011 that will make 100,000 gallons annually.

While the numbers don't look too impressive, smaller bacteria plants could be installed on-site on farms and city waste facilities. And since the technique doesn't require corn, the food supply shouldn't be affected.

Read more … Wired.