New Oilseed Crop - Cuphea

I saw the story first at Biobased News. This is the first I've heard of this oil seed type.

A good amount about Cuphea Oil is available on Wikipedia.

As described by the Biobased News this is a break through development. Being the only tropical oil crop type that will grow in North America. Or in the exact words of the Biobased News:

Part of the research focus at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service Lab in Morris is to develop new and alternative crops to diversify cropping systems in the northern Corn Belt region and offer new/improved economic and environmental benefits. Over the past seven years the Morris “Soils Lab” has been successful in developing a new oilseed crop called “cuphea” that has now become the only domestic crop-derived source of medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA) seed oil (i.e., seed oil similar to that of tropical plants) in the U.S. Until recently, the only plant-derived sources of MCFAs were coconut and palm oil.

The signifigance of this crop is that it produces medium-chain fatty acids (or MCFA's). This oil type being normally found in tropical oils which are relied on for soaps and other chemicals not to mention biodiesel.

Its always interesting to see new names pop up. Now I'm curious to see if this will be one of those blockbuster interest crops or a quiet but interesting additional crop.

A Discussion on New Feedstocks for Biodiesel

The NBB has has some podcasts up from the National Biodiesel Conference earlier this month.
The best session worth looking at is the one on new feedstock development. Its definitely worth a listen.

There is a great deal of positive agricultural technology making its way down the pipe. Soybeans that produce more oil, algae that is ready for commercial demonstration, higher oil yielding corns, and the list goes on and on.

In the past, process food products was the goal. Now it is a value added chain that starts with biofuel, moves on to food, and ends with a host of other products.

It looks to me like any industry that really focuses on R and D and diverse product development can follow the petroleum production example. A diverse feedstock set of inputs moving through a consistent refining process. Ending with a host and diverse number of value added products and underlieing commodities.


The Podcast panelist include:


Alan Weber, economic consultant to National Biodiesel Board,

Dr. Jack Brown from the University of Idaho (who is Scottish so he brings a European perspective to the biodiesel feedstock business),

Keith Bruinsma, Vice President of Corporate Development for ethanol producer VersaSun (which is not far from biodiesel as you’ll hear in the clip),

John Sheehan, Vice President of Strategy and Sustainability for Live Fuels (which is developing algae-based biodiesel),

John Soper, Senior Research Director for Soybean Product Development for Pioneer International (bringing the seed developer’s perspective to the conversation).

If you are interested in feedstock development this is the Podcast for you.

Camelina News in Montana

What makes this a wonder crop?

Camelina can grow on less productive soil, no irrigation, no fertilizers or pests, and it has a great deal of high value potential (or that's how it looks today). In particular the fact that the oil contains Omega 3 fatty acids means a great deal of feed and human food potential. There is also a predeveloped, yet small market for European camelina for use in cosmetics.

It also can be harvested with pretty much the same equipment as wheat (meaning most farmers in the Northwest already have what they need to grow and harvest it in rotation without a large investment). Additionally it has low tillage needs. From what I've been told this crop is planted in the winter while there is still snow on the ground. Farmers broadcast it over the fields and when the snow breaks up it plants itself and starts growing.

There is a great story by the Prairie Star, an Ag paper in Montana, covering the potential for this crop both as a food grade crop and a biofuel crop. The article talks numbers below:

With an average yield of 1,200 pounds per acre at 10 cents per pound, a grower could make $120 per acre when sold into the bio-diesel market. “It can't compete with $7 wheat, but as a rotation crop, it's worth something,” said Pilgeram.

All in all camelina is probably a great displacement for soy and canola oil. A higher value lower production oil crop. One thing the food versus fuel arguments usually miss is that higher ag prices usually mean more substitute crops enter the fray. We will see more diversity and choice as the higher prices allow more crops to compete.

I would suspect to see this be the path for all food products. As oil prices push up biofuel prices, food growers will start diversifying. Less productive land will be able to throw off enough cash flow to justify crops like camelina at the new higher prices for ag goods. Especially if the product has a superior food grade quality.

Vegetable Oil Fuel Cell

Another good catch by Richard Stuebl over at the Cleantech Blog.

It had to happen. The hydrogen crowd is crashing the biofuel party. Its good to see as this party is alot more fun anyways. Fewer PhD's and more entrepreneurs makes for a sector that steps hard and pushes envelopes.

Technology Management (a.k.a. TMI) demonstrates first-ever use of vegetable oil in solid oxide fuel cell.
See picture to the right.

This same fuel cell has also ran on diesel, propane, natural gas, and JP8 jet fuel (which is also cross listed as Jet A, No. 1 Diesel, or K1 Kerosene in many parts of the world). Logically I would assume this means their fuel cell can also run unrefined petroleum distillates and I'd even bet unpolished glycerin.

This is another one of those small scale distributive technologies. Or in a nutshell described simply as expensive and small scale. Small scale works though in remote energy production from multiple sources of liquid fuel. Hence distributed, away from large power generation infrastructure.

There has been a real cross over the last year of technologies that were in development during the age of sub-$40 a barrel petroleum. These already promising technologies making the necessary flexibility to include biofuels (the hot energy of today).

Funny how the very technologies that were oh-so sexy when hydrogen was the future pick up the ability to use other fuels the moment the grant money requires something other than hydrogen.

More about the fuel cell technology at FMI's site as well as a good history of their financial support from grants at FMI's news site.