A student from Augsburg College in Minnesota has come up with a new method of biodiesel that has landed his story on Good Morning America and before the Senate Agriculture Committee.
This story from TwinCities.com says Brian Krohn, along with chemistry professor Arlin Gyberg, Krohn’s college adviser, are making biodiesel from non-food stocks like algae:
Their research is drawing attention as prices for soybeans, corn and other commodities climb beyond the reach of some of the world’s poorest inhabitants, partly because of their value in making fuels like biodiesel and ethanol.
“Good Morning America,” the ABC morning news show, taped a segment with Krohn Monday for airing today. On various days this week, he and Gyberg will be in Washington, D.C., to brief U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and the staffs of U.S. Reps. James Oberstar, Collin Peterson and Keith Ellison, all Minnesota Democrats.
Krohn’s research led to the creation of a process of making biodiesel that can use vegetable oils and animal fats that are high in free fatty acids, which usually interferes with biodiesel production, said Gyberg, his adviser.
Soybeans have almost none of these fatty acids, which is why they’ve been favored in fuel production, Gyberg said.
The new process can use oils squeezed from a wide range of sources — from animal fat to common algae to corn mash left over from ethanol production — all with fatty acid content that normally rules them out as sources of biodiesel, the professor said.
In addition to using non-food stocks, the process is faster and cheaper than using soybeans, helping settle part of that food-versus-fuel debate.
“The high price of gasoline is going to spur more investment in ethanol as an alternative to gasoline,” Bush said. “And the truth of the matter is it’s in our national interests that our farmers grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us.”
Speaking to farm broadcasters meeting in Washington, Schafer said managing the blending of energy and agriculture is one of the top priorities for USDA. “If we over the next ten years could convert one-fourth of the four billion barrels of foreign oil that we import into this country into biofuels, not only would it increase the security of our country, it would double farm income,” said Schafer. “You can imagine if we doubled farm income in this country, what a revitalization would take place in rural areas.”
Seed giant Monsanto and Mendel Biotechnology are teaming up to develop a variety of grass seeds ideal for ethanol and biodiesel production.
The biodiesel-powered boat has started on its round-the-world journey… again. As you might remember, it was nearly a year ago that the “Earthrace” had to abandon its attempt to break the world record for circumnavigation of the globe in a boat.
According to VeraSun’s Don Endres, “With fuel prices where they’re at, with diesel prices where they’re at, we need more fuel, and this will go right into the biodiesel market, fit right into that fuel stream so it’s a much more highly-valued in the fuel stream then, what it is as oil in the fuel.” 
A tentative agreement reached by conference committee members on funding for a new farm bill would reduce the tax incentive for blenders to use ethanol from 51 cents a gallon to 45 cents. The president of the 
“We do understand that they are looking at that in order to pay for cellulosic tax credits and some other important programs,” said Bob Dinneen in an interview Monday. “While we wish they could find other means of paying for those important priorities, we understand the budget constraints that Congress is under.”