With Diesel prices’ fluctuating in wallet bursting ranges and petroleum products tainted in many minds due to its association with violence in the Middle East, the demand for Biodiesel and feedstocks like Jatropha is all set to boom in the US.

Right now, the Biodiesel blends are pricier than pure petroleum diesel, but with the prices of diesel going on an upward trend, this might no longer be the case. Diesel has followed the petroleum surge, ending at $3.82 a galleon last week based on US government data.

Rising diesel prices continue to put pressure on consumers and businesses that depend on the fuel, including bulk transportation and power generation.

All in all, businesses are looking for the better alternative, the cheaper alternative, and at the end of the day, the greener alternative. The pressure on the world’s largest energy economy to cut down emissions is now much stronger, and climate change has become one of the most important agenda in the 2008 US Presidential Elections.

America is also determined to reduce their dependence on oil imports from the Middle East, and many entrepreneurs believe that Biodiesel might be the answer to their fuel needs.

However, Biodiesel is not going to go main-stream in the US for some time.

According to a report by The Seattle Times, between 3 percent and 4 percent of the US registered vehicles are diesel well below the 49 percent in Europe, where higher gasoline prices long ago made diesel’s 30-40 percent greater fuel efficiency appealing.

Despite the relatively low domestic demand for Diesel, the US simply isn’t capable of replacing petroleum diesel at current demand levels with homegrown soybean based Biodiesel. “We don’t have the acreage, the production capacity,” said Peter Murchie at the Environmental Protection Agency in his statement to the Seattle Times.

In the mean time, the expanding interest and demand for Biodiesel means that more want a share of this very profitable pie. States like Washington and Oregon have also expressed interest in expanding their domestic Biodiesel production capabilities.

Matt Steuerwalt, energy aide to Seattle Gov. Christine Gregoire, had issued the following statement with regards to the state’s policy towards Biodiesel: “We’re trying to build a whole industry in this state, from growing to crushing to refining to using,” said. Right now Seattle is using Biodiesel for at least some of their public transit and service vehicles.

Not surprisingly however, there have been major supply problems. The Seattle Metro Transit network often faces problems with supply.

Shortage shortages may no longer bar the path to widespread commercialization of Biodiesel. With over 171 Biodiesel producing plants in the US, shortages shouldn’t be a problem, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

That said, you might remember that in one of our previous posts, we had mentioned that many Biodiesel plants across the US are choosing not to manufacture because they are unable to get enough feedstocks, or that the feedstocks are too expensive, making the per gallon cost of production of Biodiesel very high.
The demand for Biodiesel in America is going to expand if the oil markets continue in their upwards price trend is a fact written in stone.

America needs another viable source of Biodiesel that is inexpensive, not already a source of food and vulnerable to jelling at low temperatures. Soy oil, the source of about 90 percent of U.S. Biodiesel fails on all three counts.

Currently, Jatropha ranks amongst the most inexpensive of all Biodiesel feedstock. The seed also has one of the highest oil yields amongst the feedstocks, and is second only to Palm. Jatropha is not a food crop and does not compete with food crops for arable land. Studies have also shown that Jatropha oil has a very low gelling point in comparison to Soy oil.

All these positives about Jatropha qualify it as a far more viable feedstock for Biodiesel than soy.

However Jatropha’s widespread use is still in the future, as America’s farming communities have not really explored the potential for the commercial cultivation of Jatropha. That said, more and more American planters and research institutions are starting to study the possibility of planting Jatropha in degraded soils in California, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada and Phoenix, possibly creating an agricultural revival in these states and boosting local economies.

With the boom in domestic diesel demand and Biodiesel production outfits, the demand and profile of Jatropha in the US is poised to rise sharply.

What do you think? Is the era of Soy ending? Will 2nd Generation Biodiesel feedstocks like Jatropha meet the US diesel demand? Make your voice heard on this issue. Drop us your comments, or better yet, tell it to us in person at JatrophaWorld 2008 Miami.