Several agricultural resources are currently used as bioenergy and bioproducts feedstocks, including corn grain for ethanol and bioproducts (e.g., polymers, synthetic fabrics); grain sorghum for ethanol; oilseed crops (soybean, canola) for biodiesel and bioproducts such as adhesives, paint components, lubricants, etc.; waste greases and fats for biodiesel; and sugarcane bagasse for heat and steam.
These traditional biomass resources will continue to play a major role in the emerging bioeconomy, but numerous other existing and potential biomass resources could be used.
Additional potential agricultural resources include other established grain, oilseed, and sugar crops (e.g., wheat, barley, sunflower, sugarbeets, sugarcane); agricultural crop residues (e.g., corn stover, wheat and other grain straws); animal wastes (e.g., poultry litter); food and industry processing wastes (e.g., sugarcane bagasse, cull fruits and vegetables, fruit pits, rice hulls); and potential new crops (e.g., herbaceous crops such as switchgrass; short rotation crops such as willow and hybrid poplar; oilseed crops such as winter Canola, Camelina, Lesquerella, and Castor; non-wood fiber crops such as kenaf; resin and rubber crops such as guayule; and algae).