Research into additional oilseeds to make into biodiesel is gaining more popularity, especially as the cost for soybean oil, currently the most commonly used feedstock, soars to record levels.
Paul Aakre University of Minnesota-Crookston researcher is one of those looking at expanding the field of oilseeds, according to this article in the Dickinson, North Dakota Press:
“We are hearing more and more positive talk when it comes to biodiesels, even more so than corn for ethanol,” Aakre said. “One of the advantages of biodiesel is the potential for individual farmers or a small group of farmers to produce their own fuel in a much simpler technology than ethanol.”
Aakre and one of his students, Jade Estling, Roosevelt, Minn., are embarking on a project that will test the viability of canola meal as a heating source in wood stoves.
The project will use the same basic process for extracting canola oil for biodiesel. Instead of using the pulp or the meal extrusion a byproduct of the process solely for cattle feed, the meal will be made into pellets that will be tested by Northwest Manufacturing Inc., in Red Lake Falls, Minn., which makes wood stoves.
Aakre and Estling will team with a group of canola growers from the Wannaska, Minn., area, which provided the UMC researchers with a twin-screw expeller, a $16,000 machine used to extract oil and meal from oil seeds.
Aakre will be producing some of that oil into biodiesel right on the UM-Crookston campus with some of the biodiesel going back to farmers who provided the canola. The canola meal, a by-product of the oil extraction process, will be fed to cattle.
Rep. Alan Freeman, R-Macon, said House Bill 1174 would help farmers and agribusinesses in Georgia’s small but growing biofuel industry. With co-sponsors that include the Democratic minority leader and the governor’s floor leader, Freeman said he hopes the measure can win passage.
Jack Purdy, who has farmed in Woodstock for more than 30 years, now also is the owner of P.K. Biodiesel — a plant on his farm that makes fuel from soybean oil.
Now I can tell you that algae as an additional feedstock for biodiesel was a hot topic of discussion at the recent National Biodiesel Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida. In fact, the last general session of the conference included a discussion of the various feedstocks, including talk about how algae could produce a thousand gallons of oil for every acre grown. 
The statement from the 25x’25 Alliance says, “environmentally sensitive lands should not be exploited in pursuit of renewable fuels. In fact, we have long held that the growing increase in demand for energy, along with food, feed and fiber, can be met with a boost in production facilitated by advances in technology.”
This is the third ethanol plant investment for The Andersons, according to CEO Mike Anderson. “Locating in Darke County, the largest corn-producing county in the state, is ideal and the community’s reception has been exceptional. In addition to providing a viable alternative fuel source for our country, we look forward to serving the local farming community through corn sourcing and high-quality distillers dried grains.”
According to the report, “increasing public concerns about climate change — and its potential economic and political security consequences — are driving public policy and private investment to bring clean energy technologies from the fringes of the global energy industry to the center of activities as quickly as possible.”
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