The rush to find an oil alternative may be shifting from corn-based ethanol to another less commonly known crop.

With a fifth of America's corn crop going into gas tanks, ethanol is blamed for the rising fuel and food costs.

Researchers now say growing sweet sorghum for ethanol is a better solution.

It's cheap, grows more quickly than corn, and won't drive up the cost of food.

Plus, you only need the leftover stalk of the plant to squeeze out juice to make the fuel.

"The process yields about eight times more energy than it consumes," said William Rooney with Texas A&M University. "So it's a much more energy efficient way to produce ethanol."

Experts say sorghum will not solve our energy crisis by itself but most agree it is a product that makes long term sense.