Cars to run on fuel from household waste in two years

CARS run on fuel made from household waste could be on the streets within two years, it was announced yesterday.

INEOS, the world's third largest chemical company, said it aimed to produce commercial quantities of bioethanol fuel from biodegradable municipal waste by 2011.Peter Williams, chief executive officer of INEOS Bio, the part of the firm which makes bioethanol fuel, said: "Our technology will make a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gases and the world's need for fossil fuels."This is a very robust and flexible process, and we have everything we need now to take it to a commercial level."This is very attractive from the perspective of the food versus fuel debate, as it takes fuel production away from corn."The process produces ethanol by mixing a biological catalyst with carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which are produced by burning the biodegradable waste.