In addition to its value as a food source for humans and animals around the world, corn is becoming a major player in the world’s evolution from a petroleum-based economy to a carbohydrate-based economy. Evidence of this changing economy is seen in the millions of bushels of corn that are replacing millions of barrels of oil in fuel, plastics, solvents and cleaners. The
United States
has abundant biomass resources (crop residues--including corncobs, crops, trees, grasses, forest residues, animal waste and municipal solid waste) that have the potential to be transformed into valuable industrial and consumer products and bioenergy. Biorefineries, where biomass is converted