b'Nuseeds new carinata cover crop hybrid.PHOTO: NUSEEDBiofuel Is Good, But Could It Be Great?As demand rises for biofuels, plant breeders are working hard to increase biofuel feedstocks productivity and biofuels sustainability.Treena HeinYEARS AGO,some doubted that biofuels could be a viabletowards sustainability increases further when producers grow industry, let alone a thriving one. While questions about bio- feedstock crops on marginal land and/or use waste crop bio-fuels role still exist, infrastructure development and plant breed- mass as biofuel feedstock while retaining the highest value grain ers efforts during the past decade have put biofuels on the mapor oilseed for uses in food products or livestock feed. Also signifi-in various transportation sectors. cant, biofuels support sustainability by reducing a countrys need The main biofuel crops include starches like corn and sor- for imported fossil fuels.ghum, oilseeds such as soybean and canola, and sugar cropsEven with these existing sustainability benefits, the biofuelprimarily sugarcane and sugar beet. Fermenting sugar andindustry remains committed to further enhancing sustainability. starch-based crops produces bio-alcohols like ethanol, while oilsDue to the limits of available farmland globally, expanding feed-undergo processing and blending to create biodiesel and renew- stock crop biomass volume is challenging. Therefore, breeding able aviation fuel. crops for higher yields to obtain more fuel from each acre is criti-Biofuels impact hinges on its ability to replace fossil fuels,cal to maximizing sustainability. For oilseeds like canola, the oil a metric that continues to steadily rise. According to the U.Sprofile also matters.Energy Information Administration, the United States produced 17.5 billion gallons and consumed about 16.8 billion gallons ofCanada Leading in Canolabiofuels in 2021. Though the last couple years have had a dipCanada is the worlds largest producer of canola, growing more in production and consumption owing largely to the globalthan 25% of the global supply and leading the world in exports. pandemic, both production and consumption have been on aIn Canada, canola has had biofuel-use as a breeding focus from general upward trajectory since the biofuel market began in thethe crops earliest days. Curtis Rempel, the Canola Council of 1980s. Ethanol, which is blended with petroleum gasoline for useCanadas vice president of crop production and innovation, says in vehicles, accounted for 85% of U.S. biofuel production andsome producers dedicate some acreage to biofuel production. 82% of consumption in 2021. We have rising North American demand and, although Biofuels contribute to reduced greenhouse gas emissionsits not much now, we expect to be shipping more canola oil across multiple stages of the production process, according toto Europe in future, Rempel explains. Europe has historically the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Their impactgrown quite a bit of rapeseed and now canola is also grown 42/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2023'