The objection to using biofuels because they use food crops as their source material is now the old news. The truth of the matter is, there are at least 10 non-food sources to create biofuel, including; cellulosic ethanol, algae, duckweed, waste vegetable oil, switchgrass, Jatropha, willow saplings, poplar saplings, hemp, and rapeseed.

Cellulosic ethanol

According to Nathan Schock, the director of public relations for POET, one of the largest producer of biofuels in the world, the difference between cellulosic ethanol and regular ethanol is that regular ethanol is made from the starch in grains (corn), which is a feedstock, whereas cellulosic ethanol is made from the stalks of the corn, which is usually just hauled away as rubbish, it is not a food source. POET does not use a food crop (corn) to make their ethanol biofuel; they utilize the cob, the leaves, the husk and the stalks of the corn. (2)

Algae

In an article by Kassia Micek of The Courier of Montgomery County, she reports that The National Algae Association chose the Lone Star College-Montgomery to host the first commercial-scale, closed-loop photobioreactor in the greater Houston area. The machine turns pond scum into what has been dubbed “green crude,” which can be used to create biodiesel.

“The cool thing with green crude is you can do pretty much anything you can do with black crude,” said Daniel Kainer, Lone Star College-Montgomery Biotechnology Institute director. “Instead of drilling down into the ground to get material that was alive several years ago, we’re growing our own material and speeding up the process by thousands of years.”(3)

Duckweed

Tamra Fakhoorian, past president of the National Algae Association Mid-South Chapter and founder of US Algae Supply, Inc., explains that "Lemnaceae, more commonly known as duckweed, has been used in developing countries as a part of sustainable integrated farming systems for several decades. We are currently working on US applications of Lemnaceae (duckweed) for biofuel and biofertilizer."(4)

Waste vegetable oil

You've heard the rumors that people are making fuel for their cars from used restaurant vegetable oil. According to Used Waste Vegetable Oil.com "Biodiesel is a type of biofuel made by combining animal fat or vegetable oil (waste/used vegetable oil from restaurants and factories) with alcohol and can be directly substituted for diesel as a stand-alone fuel (called B100, for 100% biodiesel) or be used as an additive (called B20, for 20% bio-diesel). Biodiesel can be used in vehicles (newer cars, usually 1994 or later, are required for B100) and is beginning to be used in on-site electricity generation and heating applications." (5)

Switchgrass

The ScienceDaily.com reported that "switchgrass grown for biofuel production produced 540 percent more energy than needed to grow, harvest and process it into cellulosic ethanol, according to estimates from a large on-farm study by researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln."(1)

Jatropha

The Jatropha World website explains that the entire plant can be used for various uses, for example, the roots, leaves and twigs from the plant can be used as medicine, while the seeds are a source of oil (30-40%) suitable as fuel for diesel engines. (6)

Willow Saplings

According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s report titled “Biofuels, Bioenergy, and Bioproducts from Sustainable Agricultural and Forest Crops” dated 2008, “Willow shrubs have several characteristics that make them an ideal feedstock for biofuels, bioproducts, and bioenergy. They have been tested across the northeast and Midwest United States and in Canada from Prince Edward Island to Alberta. The largest single cost factor for willow biomass crops is harvesting and transportation, which can account for up to 60 percent of the delivered cost of the biomass.” This is another example of cellulosic biofuel, one made from plant matter that would otherwise be considered waste matter. (9)

Poplar saplings

Jake Eaton of Greenwoodresources Inc. writes “GreenWood Resources (GWR) manages 14,000 hectares of poplar farms in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and is developing nurseries and short-rotation high-yield poplar plantations in Chile and China. Th e U.S. farms are managed on 12- to 15-year rotations for multiple products, including sawlogs, chips, and residuals for bioenergy. GWR intends to certify all the tree farms to the Forest Stewardship Council standard.”(10)

Hemp

Researchers at University of Connecticut have found that industrial hemp has properties that make it attractive as a raw material for biofuel production. (7)

Rapeseed

E Science News reported that "rapeseed grown for biofuel in Ireland could help clean up contaminated soils, scientists heard today (Wednesday 10 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin."(8)

Sources Cited:

*(1) Science Daily- http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080109110629.htm

(2) From my article "Sustainable Energy 101-The latest in biofuel production; cellulosic ethanol", Diane Tegarden.-

(3) The Courier of Montgomery County- http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/courier/news/article_40113143-969a-5ea2-a...

(4) From an abstract "Lemnaceae for Feed, Fuel, and Fertilizer" written by Tamra Fakhoorian, President, US Algae Supply, Inc., USA US.                                                                                                                                                                          

*(5) Used Vegetable Oil.com website- http://usedwastevegetableoil.com/what-is-biodiesel-fuel.cfm

*(6)Jatropha World.org- http://www.jatrophaworld.org/cropcultivation_10.html

(7) GizMag.com- http://www.gizmag.com/hemp-biodiesel-dope-biofuel/16852/

*(8) E Science news.com- http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/09/10/rapeseed.grown.biofuel.can.h...

(9) “Biofuels, Bioenergy, and Bioproducts from Sustainable Agricultural and Forest Crops-Proceedings of the Short Rotation Crops International Conference”,Bloomington, Minnesota, USA, August 19-21, 2008. United States Department of Agriculture. Edited by: Ronald S. Zalesny, Jr., Rob Mitchell, and Jim Richardson.

(10) “Biofuels, Bioenergy, and Bioproducts from Sustainable Agricultural and Forest Crops-Proceedings of the Short Rotation Crops International Conference”,Bloomington, Minnesota, USA, August 19-21, 2008. United States Department of Agriculture. Edited by: Ronald S. Zalesny, Jr., Rob Mitchell, and Jim Richardson. Article “Agroforestry and cellulosic ethanol from sustainable poplar tree farms” by Jake Eaton of GreenWood Resources Inc.