''Many of the people Biomass Magazine spoke with mentioned feedstocks as an issue that needs to be addressed, especially in the biodiesel industry. Soy and other oils have become so expensive that they are pricing many biodiesel producers out of the market. “I think there is going to be more and more demand for alternative feedstocks for biodiesel just because there is so much demand for soy right now,” says William Marmer, a research leader with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. “There are plenty of other alternatives that should be taken advantage of. Biodiesel is feedstock neutral. If you meet ASTM standards, you have good biodiesel.” Marmer thinks the biomass industry will be more flexible in 2008 regarding feedstocks. A great deal of research is going into developing biofuels from regionally appropriate feedstocks. “I think in the longer term there will be attention to newer crops—higher yielding crops,” he says. “Peanuts could be one. There is a lot of attention given to algae as a source of biodiesel. In warmer climates jatropha is getting a lot of attention. Philosophically, I think we are looking at regional crops. I don’t think there is one favored crop for the whole United States.” Regional feedstocks for producing ethanol are also being considered. “A number of my colleagues are looking at barley for ethanol,” Marmer says. “Barley is a good alternative for the East and Northeast, which are not major corn producers. Getting a regional crop that can be converted to ethanol is a good catch.” Michael Haas, a research biochemist with the ARS, thinks a lot this research will come to fruition in 2008, especially for one highly promising feedstock. “It seems to me that in 2008, we will find out a whole lot more about the feasibility of algae as a fuel feedstock,” he says. “Not much has been published to date, but I have reason to believe that there will be some major developments in the next year and a half.”

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