Scientists at the Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory in Mandan, North Dakota are just completing their first year of field trials to determine if canola seeds would be appropriate for biofuel production, and more specifically, jet biofuel production. In 2009 the U.S. Navy set a goal to have half of its energy needs met by non-oil sources by 2020 and the Federal Aviation Administration wants 1 billion gallons of biofuel by 2018. The non-food variety oilseeds are being judged on their drought tolerance, ability to thrive where other oilseeds do not, their ability to improve the quality of the soil, and their ability to fit into crop rotation. If researchers could find a canola variety that meets all the prerequisites, it would increase the market for farmers and be beneficial to processors. To read further about the work researchers are doing to find the right economic and environmental balance for given canola varieties in order to commercially produce bio jet fuel for the U.S. military:
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