Sugar can instead of fossil fuel to manufacture plastic and chemicals-->
GOOD NEWS UPDATE:
“Researchers from UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) and KAIST will aim to perfect the technology to use sugar cane instead of fossil fuel to manufacture plastics and chemicals,” Greenfield said. “Replacing oil with sugarcane would reduce the use of non-renewable resources for chemicals by up to 90 percent. Chemical production currently accounts for seven percent of the world's energy use.”
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/a_sweet_tooth_for_bioplastics.php
“Researchers from UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) and KAIST will aim to perfect the technology to use sugar cane instead of fossil fuel to manufacture plastics and chemicals,” Greenfield said. “Replacing oil with sugarcane would reduce the use of non-renewable resources for chemicals by up to 90 percent. Chemical production currently accounts for seven percent of the world's energy use.”
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/a_sweet_tooth_for_bioplastics.php