With international concern for climate change snowballing to pressure industrialized nations to come clean, ethanol is perhaps the most popular solution being touted by scientists and politicians. But some environmentalists and the National Research Center beg to differ.

Ethanol is derived mainly from raw crops such as corn and emits very little pollutants when used as automotive fuel. This would be a logical alternative to fossil fuels, but some scientists say that we'll end up moving the pollution from the air to the Earth's hydrosphere.

For President Bush's plan of increasing ethanol production 300 percent by 2017 to happen, huge amounts of corn crops must be planted to serve the industry.

This could pose a threat to water systems because a huge amount of nitrogen-based fertilizers and pesticides would be used to grow the crops. These fertilizers and pesticides are likely to eventually find their ways into the water of streams, rivers and seas, damaging the ecosystem as a result of microorganism casualties with a chain effect hitting bigger species.

Food supplies in developing nations may also be compromised as they struggle to produce and allocate the crops needed for human and fuel consumption.

Finally, the availability of water to irrigate a huge amount of crops was questioned by the National Research Center report. Not only will it be difficult to find means to water huge tracts of land, it was also a concern as to what quality of water will eventually come out of fields saturated by fertilizers. "From a water quality perspective, it is vitally important to pursue policies that prevent an increase in total loadings of nutrients, pesticides, and sediments to waterways," conclude the experts.

Well, everyone seems to be starting to see green.

The University of Florida, Colorado State University and Washington State University have all announced that they will launch science-based organic agriculture undergraduate degree programs this Fall. Organic agriculture is an alternative approach to conventional food production where the goal is to use no or little synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

The new degree programs indicate the growing importance of the organic food industry. Last year, the sector reached $13.8 billion in U.S. consumer sales and it is expected to rise by about 20% annually. Dan Cantliffe, chairman of the University of Florida Horticultural Sciences Department said organic agriculture program is long overdue. “There’s a big industry, a big demand and a lack of people who are qualified to do the work employers need.”