North Carolina's traditional tobacco farms are switching to other crops, so the state’s Southeastern Community College in Whiteville, has initiated a program to educate farmers on the ins-and-outs of biodiesel manufacturing, anticipating producers will be growing more oilseeds in the future. Southeastern Community College will be using a mobile biodiesel processor built by Jerome, Arizona-based Verde Biofuel for this program. While the processor is for educational purposes, demonstrating how various seeds can be turned into fuel.

When I became involved in the American Biofuels Council three years ago, the push for biofuels was at its highest point in the technology hype cycle. Now, in Arizona, under the aegis of the Desert Biofuels Initiative, a non-profit social venture advancing sustainable regional biofuels, companies in the state are collaborating to produce and sell real products.