Biofuel production is receiving increased attention in recent years, and the U.S. Congress, through several agencies, is providing incentives (e.g. tax breaks) to examine new sources of bio-based materials. The two major types crops grown in the United States for biofuels production presently are ethanol based systems and oil seed crops. Ethanol production from fermentation of carbohydrate containing crops (primarily corn) is increasingly important in the Midwestern United States.
For Nevada conditions, at least for the present, growing crops for ethanol is unlikely to be economically successful. Alternatively, oil seed crops have received extensive investigation in the more arid regions of the western United States, and can potentially be grown in Nevada. Nevada's agricultural conditions of a relatively short growing season and limited water availability appear to be well suited to oil seed production.
Water availability limits the use of a very large land base in Nevada. Competition for this limited resource from urban development in the Las Vegas and Reno areas may further reduce its availability for agriculture. Additionally, other demands for water for environmental purposes (e.g. Walker Lake and Pyramid Lake) are likely to continue to reduce the amounts of water available for current production areas.
Although alfalfa production has been very reliable and profitable for Nevada farmers, the high water use (4-5 ft/year) may limit the amount of alfalfa that can be grown. Any crop that can be grown profitably with reduced water use has the potential to provide agricultural producers expanded options.
Biodiesel is currently being produced at a limited number of facilities in Nevada. The largest producer is Bently Biofuels in Minden, NV, with a production of approximately 300,000 gallons per year (Carlo Luri, Bently Biofuels, personal communication, 2006). This facility uses primarily waste oil from restaurants in the area, and is limited by the availability of waste vegetable oil feed stock.
A second major facility is being planned for the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center that is expected to produce in excess of 5 million gallons of biodiesel per year, if a cost-effective feed stock source can be found. The siting of a biodiesel facility at this area (between Reno and Fernley) is desirable due to the large amount of warehouse and manufacturing space that presently exists and is planned for this industrial center. Thus, the market for biodiesel feed stock is present at a close location and would minimize transportation costs. However, with no production of virgin oil crops in northern Nevada, these oils will need to be transported from other agricultural areas.
Additionally, the oil seed crops being considered in this project may have other (and more profitable) uses, including edible oils and bio-based industrial chemicals. For example, highly unsaturated oils can be used for drying agents and chemically resistant surface films. While the crops that will be examined in this project will focus on biofuel production, other uses of the materials produced will also be considered, including use of the extracted plant material as animal feeds.