Brazilian researchers say they have had success using low frequency magnetic waves to boost the amount of ethanol produced from fermenting sugar.

This story in Science Daily says the finding has the potential of significantly reducing the cost of producing ethanol:

In a new study, Victor Perez and colleagues showed that yeast-based fermentation of sugar cane — the main source of bioethanol in Brazil — in the presence of extremely low frequency magnetic waves boosted ethanol production by 17 percent. The scientists also showed that ethanol production was faster, taking two hours less than standard fermentation methods.

“The results presented in this report suggest that an extremely low frequency magnetic field induces alterations in ethanol production by S. cervisiae [yeast] and that the magnetic field treatment can be easily implemented at an industrial scale,” the article states.