Over the long term, Tao pointed out, they won't. Eventually we will have to switch from using non-renewable resources to using renewable resources. But Tao and others say that the potential is already there for common field crops, such as corn and soybeans, to replace petroleum oil as the driver of our economy. And the change may come within a few decades. Although most biofuel discussions center on ethanol, that's not the only option, Tao said.
Ethanol is a type of alcohol made by fermenting plant material.
Although it makes a good fuel, it has drawbacks, Tao said. By manipulating plant oils, Tao said it's possible to create a petroleum substitute. Fossil fuels were plants once, millions of years ago, and so it makes sense that both the fossil fuels we use today and oils produced by plants are chemically similar. Both are made up of chains of chemicals known as hydrocarbons. A hydrocarbon is a carbon atom surrounded by hydrogen atoms.