Algae      Seashore Mallow     Cuphea     Switchgrass     Watermelon     Hemp         Citrus Waste      Halophytes      Barley      Alfalfa      Sorghum       Australian Beauty Leaf Tree       Mustard       Miscanthus       Sugar Beets        Food Processing Leftovers       Castor        Corn Cobs            Corn Stover       Jatropha        Salicornia          Sunflower         High Rusic Rapeseed           Camelina             Agricultural Residues           Flax            Poplar        Municipal Solid Waste           Spartina       Linoleic and Oleic Safflower               Coffee Grounds

And who knows what else?

How about: 

Babassu, beef tallow, borage, camelina, canola, castor, choice white grease, coconut, coffee, distiller’s corn, Cuphea viscosissima, evening primrose, fish, hemp, high IV and low IV hepar, jatropha, jojoba, karanja, Lesquerella fendleri, linseed, Moringa oleifera, mustard, neem, palm, perilla seed, poultry fat, rice bran, soybean, stillingia, sunflower, tung, used cooking oil, yellow grease, jojoba and karanja–all studied as biodiesel feedstocks.

To find out more about these feedstocks and others–and about how feedstocks are used to make advanced biofuels, how the research is progressing, and what challenges face us, click on the Feedstock or R&D Feedstock categories at the bottom right of each page.  

OR, search by the name of the feedstock that interests you.

OR, take a look at the Handbook of Energy Crops on Purdue University’s newCROPS web site: 

 ”During the last decade, biomass advocates have suggested numerous plant species as sources of firewood, vegetable seed oil, fermentation substrates, and whole-plant hydrocarbons. However, the rationale for selecting one species over another is, with few exceptions, sketchy, ambiguous, or unavailable. James A. Duke in the “Handbook of Energy Crops” has brought together in one source information common to about 200 species most frequently proposed for energy production. The Handbook provides discussion and presentation of available information such as: nomenclature, uses, folk medicine, chemical composition, botanical description, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields and economics, energy, biotic factors, and key references. The technologist, attempting to identify plant species that merit further attention or show promise for satisfying specific fuels, chemicals, and materials needs, should find this an invaluable reference source.”

The Iowa Energy Center

The Iowa Energy Center sponsors research about various feedstocks and meets its goals through in-house energy research and education programs and by sponsoring energy projects developed by other eligible grantees.

The Energy Center awards grants to Iowa-based, nonprofit groups to conduct energy-related research, demonstration and education projects. These projects, which range in size and complexity, are conducted throughout the state by Iowa-based, nonprofit groups such as Iowa’s three major universities, several community colleges and at nonprofit energy organizations and community-based educational groups. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis through periodic Requests for Proposals (RFPs). 

The Iowa Energy Center receives its funding from an annual assessment on the gross intrastate revenues of all gas and electric utilities in Iowa.

Iowa Energy Center lists here supported projects currently conducted at the Biomass Energy Conversion (BECON) Facility.