The Thai government and Ford Motor Company will jointly work to use farm crops as vehicle fuel to reduce the country's reliance on imported oil, according to the Bangkok Post.

The one-year study will help determine the most environmentally beneficial and cost-effective technology for use with ethanol. The abundance of local crops such as sugar cane and cassava makes Thailand an ideal proving ground for ethanol use in Asia.

According to Ford officials, the study would use 10 to 15 percent ethanol fuel blends in a Ford Ranger pickup.

Ethanol use in Thailand is not new. More than 20 years ago when oil costs were soaring and local prices for cassava and tapioca were falling, a process for making tapioca-derived ethanol was invented. At the time, the construction of four ethanol plants with a capacity of 600,000 liters a day was planned. However, ethanol production costs were not competitive and the plans for the ethanol plants were shelved.