Someday, you could pull up to the local gas station and fill your conventionally-powered car with a renewable fuel, made in the U.S., that costs less than today's gasoline.

Kicking Tires explains, "Texas-based company Terrabon, which specializes in biofuels, reports that it has devised an alternative fuel compatible with gasoline."  Researchers at Texas A&M University have developed "a fermentation process called MixAlco" that produces a fuel very similar to gasoline, using almost any organic material. 

The Houston Chronicle reports, "It may be a while before America is driving on green gasoline.  While Terrabon has had success with test batches and recently received the backing of a major oil refiner, the fuel still has not been proved on a large scale."  The company's facility can currently produce just 300 gallons per day.  "A 2007 energy law requires blending of 36 billion gallons of biofuels into the nation's fuel supply by 2022 as part of an effort to reduce the country's dependence on oil."

Analysts expect the energy industry to meet that goal with ethanol.  However, Kicking Tires notes, "Ethanol is highly corrosive and burns inefficiently, while Terrabon's fuel behaves chemically like gasoline."  The company "believes it can eventually produce a gallon of fuel for $1.75, which would put it well below today's average gas price of just over $2.50 per gallon."

Widespread use of so-called "green gasoline" would also do nothing to help meet new federal emissions guidelines.

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