ENERGY

Ethanol May Be as Cheap as Gas in 10 Years: Automobile fuel produced from household garbage, recycled newspapers and specially bred “energy crops” will be competitive with gasoline by the end of the decade, researchers say. Use of ethanol from waste and other sources also will substantially reduce the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, easing global warming from the greenhouse effect, researchers at an American Chemical Society gathering in New York said. The United States generates 200 million tons of municipal waste each year, said James L. Gaddy of the University of Arkansas. It could be used to meet 5% of the nation’s energy needs, he said.