Increased interest in ethanol fuel in the US will help encourage consumers to adopt fuel cell vehicles in the future, according to an industry expert.

Speaking to Reuters during an automotive industry conference, Lawrence Burns, General Motors' research and development chief, also said that farmers could be encouraged to grow crops that could be converted into hydrogen fuel.

"It allows us to use our existing internal combustion engines as we transition to hydrogen in the future," he said.

"We see it as a synergistic step with hydrogen and fuel cells. It is a matter of time."

Ethanol can be made from a variety of biomass material, such as corn, wheat or barley.

Mr Burns explained: "Even some of the initial steps in the processing of the biomass, whether to make it hydrogen or ethanol, will be one and the same, so it is an important step toward an alternative pathway for energy."

Supporters of the use of ethanol as a fuel claim that making it domestically would reduce the US's reliance on foreign oil imports, but opponents argue it may be produced in place of food.

Mr Burns dismissed these criticisms, adding: "We actually have farmers that are paid not to grow things, so this will be a chance to take some of that land and turn it into an important solution for our energy needs."

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