Switchgrass: (Panicum virgatum) is a perennial grass native to North America. Because it is native, switchgrass is resistant to many pests and plant diseases as well as being very tolerant of poor soils, flooding and drought. It is easily germinated from seed, and capable of producing high yields with very low applications of fertilizer. Switchgrass makes for a great energy crop because it grows fast, capturing lots of solar energy and turning it into chemical energy which it stores as cellulose. Switchgrass reaches its full yield potential after the third year planted, producing approximately 6 to 8 tons per acre; that is 500 gallons of ethanol per acre. At maturity, widely spaced switchgrass plants can measure 20 inches in diameter at ground level. Switchgrass has a huge, permanent root system that penetrates over 10 feet into the soil, and weighs as much as the above-ground growth from one year. It also has many fine, temporary roots. All these roots improve the soil by adding organic matter, and by increasing soil water infiltration and nutrient-holding capacity.

Miscanthus: (Miscanthus x giganteus) is a tall perennial grass that has been evaluated in Europe during the past 5-10 years as a new bioenergy crop. Like other energy crops, the harvested stems of miscanthus may be used as fuel for production of heat and electric power, or for conversion to other useful products such as ethanol. Because the crop is a sterile hybrid it is established by planting pieces of the root, called rhizomes, which develop into the mature plant. Miscanthus is ready for harvest within 2 years and yields continue to improve until they level off around the 5th or 6th year. Speculating from European data, under typical agricultural practices over large areas, an average of about 3 tons per acre dry weight may be expected at harvest time.

Miscanthus exhibits:

1. Relatively high yields 8-15 t/ha (3-6 t/acre) dry weight.

2. Low moisture content (as little as 15-20%).

3. Annual harvests, providing a regular yearly income for the grower.

4. Relatively good energy balance and output/input ratio

5. Low mineral content, which improves fuel quality.

Jerusalem Artichoke: (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is an annual flowering plant native to North America. It grows 1-3 meters tall with flowers similar to the sunflower but much smaller (4-8cm in diameter). Jerusalem artichokes are grown throughout the temperate world for their tubers, which are used as a root vegetable. The tubers are gnarly and uneven, vaguely resembling ginger root, with a crisp texture when raw. Unlike most tubers, but characteristic of members of Asteraceae (Sunflower family to which it belongs), the tubers store the carbohydrate inulin instead of starch. The inulin is isolated on the basis of its high solubility in hot water; by boiling the tuber and allowing it to cool polysaccharides can be extracted. Yields tend to vary with soil conditions, cultivar and season, but fresh weights in excess of 100 tons per hectare have been recorded, which is around 8 tons per hectare of sugar. For this reason, Jerusalem artichoke tubers are an important source of energy.

Kenaf: (Hibiscus cannabinus) is considered one of the most promising alternatives to virgin, soft, and hard woods for paper production. An herbaceous annual related to cotton and okra, kenaf is a member of Malvaceae (Mallow family).

USDA chose kenaf from among five hundred candidates as the most promising non-wood fiber for pulp and paper production for several reason:

· Rapid growth: Kenaf reaches 12-18 feet in 150 days, while southern pine (A species commonly grown on tree plantations) must grow 14 to 17 years before it can be harvested.

· High yield: Kenaf yields 5-10 tons of dry fiber per acre, or approximately 3 to 5 times as much as southern pine.

· Exceptional papermaking characteristics: Less chemicals, heat and time are required to pulp kenaf fibers because they are not as tough as woodpulp and contain less lignin (an average kenaf plant contains only 9% lignin, while southern pine contains 29% lignin.

· Opportunities also exist for the production of renewable feedstock from Kenaf, as it is such a fast growing plant.

Sugar Beet: (Beta vulgaris L.), a member of the Chenopodiaceae family, is a biennial plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose, accounting for 30% of the world's sugar production. During its first growing season, it produces a large (1–2 kg) storage root whose dry mass is 15–20% sucrose by weight. Sugar beets have the potential to produce 30-40 tons of roots per hectare under non-irrigated conditions and 50-70 tons per hectare with irrigation. The research done by the Agronomic University of Bucharest in the South zone of Romania has recorded ethanol production at 5,508 liter ethanol per hectare. The sugar beet may become, in the future an important energy crop.

Soybean: (Glycine max) is an annual legume (Fabaceae). It may grow prostrate, not growing higher than 20 cm (7.8 inches), or stiffly erect up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) in height. Soybeans provide the principal oil being utilized for biodiesel in North America. To produce soybean oil, the soybeans are cracked, adjusted for moisture content, rolled into flakes and solvent-extracted with commercial hexane. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Service Agency, one bushel of soybeans yields approximately 1.4 gallons of biodiesel. Soybeans contain about 20% oil, so it takes almost 7.3 pounds of soybean oil to produce a gallon of biodiesel. In addition soybeans enhance the nitrogen content of the soil and provide the soil with many nutrients.

Dale Sorghum: (Sorghum bicolor L.) is an annual tropical grass that is easily propagated from seed. A prolific producer, averaging about twelve feet in height at maturity; sorghum is a short rotation crop, meaning that it can be harvested multiple times throughout the year. Sweet sorghums have been selected for their high sugar content and are normally grown for molasses production. Dale Sorghum is a drought resistant variety of sweet sorghum that requires less intensive irrigation. It is an early maturing (115 day) variety with superior disease resistance to many older common varieties and is well adapted for syrup production, which can be converted to methane or ethanol. It produces on average 40 tons per hectare of cane, 25 tons per hectare of juice, and provides a grain yield of 2-6 tons per hectare. It is estimated that for each ton of cane yield 40 liters of ethanol can be produced, that is 1600 liters of ethanol per hectare of Sorghum.

Peredovik Sunflower: (Helianthus annuus) is an energy and protein rich annual that at maturity (12 weeks after germination), reaches a height of 4 feet. Second only to soybeans, sunflower oilseed varieties are the most important source of high-quality vegetable oil in the world. This Russian cultivar produces small, black seeds that yield more oil than most other sunflowers (approximately 952 liters of oil per hectare). While typical sunflower seeds contain 25–35% oil, the peredovik sunflower can contain up to 50% oil. According to the Duke handbook of Energy Crops, a hundred kilograms of dry seed will yield about 40 kilograms of oil, 15–20 kilograms of hulls, and 40 kilograms of proteinaceous meal.

Peredovik sunflowers provide stacked functions including:

1. Food in the form of filtered oil

2. Oil that can be converted to biodiesel

3. The remaining press cake from expelling can be fed to livestock

4. The flowers are bee forage

5. The dried stalk is a carbon component for compost

Flax: (Linum usitatissimum L.) is an erect annual with slender stems that is grown for its seed and fiber. It is not generally a crop that is spoken of in relation to alternative fuel sources; however, there are groups looking into the possibility of using the long tough stem fibers of oilseed flax as feedstock for large scale burners. Flax seeds contain 20–30% protein, and are the source of linseed oil. Flax straw has a per ton heating value similar to soft coal that is much greater than other crop residues. Not only is the straw cheaper than conventional fuels; it is also carbon neutral fuel; meaning that the plant takes carbon from the air during the growing season to produce the straw, reducing the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. With seed yields of 1000–4000 kilograms per hectare, and reported oil content of 34–37%, flax has the potential to yield 1500 kilograms of oil per hectare.

Corn: (Zea mays L.), the single largest U.S. crop, is increasingly being used as a biomass fuel. It is currently harvested from 30 million hectares within the United States, which is almost ¼ of all the harvested cropland in the country. The average yield of moist corn grain is 8600 kilograms per hectare; that is approximately 150 bushels per acre. According to the National Corn Growers Association, 1.3 billion bushels of corn were allocated towards ethanol production in 2004. David Pimentel, a professor from Cornell estimates that one acre of U.S. corn can be processed into about 328 gallons of ethanol, but planting, growing and harvesting that much corn requires close to 140 gallons of fossil fuels and costs $347 per acre; that is $1.05 per gallon of ethanol before the corn even moves off the farm, meaning that 70% more energy is required to produce ethanol from corn than the energy that ethanol contains. No research has been done; however, as to whether corn may serve as a sustainable energy crop when grown organically and at a much smaller scale. Corn residues, including the stalk and cob may also prove useful in future energy production.

Energy Inputs to Corn Production

1. Nitrogen fertilizers (all fossil energy)

2. Phosphate, potash, and lime (mostly fossil energy)

3. Herbicides and insecticides (all fossil energy)

4. Fossil fuels: diesel, gasoline, liquified petroleum gas, and natural gas

5. Electricity (almost all fossil energy)

6. Transportation (all fossil energy)

7. Corn seeds and irrigation (mostly fossil energy)

8. Infrastructure (mostly fossil energy)

9. Labor (mostly fossil energy)

Buckwheat: (Fagopyrum esculentum) is a short season crop that does well on poor, sandy, somewhat acidic soils. Plants will begin blooming in about 40 days from seeding, with the first seeds mature after an additional 40 days. The seed is an achene, similar to a sunflower seed, with a hard outer shell and soft inner meat. Most of the buckwheat grain utilized as food for humans is marketed in the form of flour but whole grain may be used in poultry scratch feed mixtures as they are high in protein. As well as being a food crop, buckwheat is used for its biomass.

Comfrey: (Symphytum officinale L.) is a prolific perennial herb belonging to the Borage family (Boraginaceae) that has long been recognized by organic gardeners for its great usefulness and versatility, both medicinally and as a fertilizer. Because the majority of comfrey under cultivation is hybridized, it is typically propagated from root cuttings. It is a sturdy plant, reaching a height of 2 to 3 1/2 feet with very large, hairy lower leaves, as much as 15 to 20 inches long. Its roots draw nutrients from deep in the soil to produce the energy rich foliage that offers many methods of application as a fertilizer.

Comfrey offers many uses as a fertilizer:

1. Comfrey as a compost activator

2. Comfrey as liquid fertilizer

3. Comfrey as a mulch

4. Comfrey as a potting mixture ingredient

Quinoa: (Chenopodium quinoa) is grown primarily for its highly nutritious edible seeds, which are small yellow flattened spheres, approximately 1.5 to 2 millimeters in diameter; however, the leaves of the plant can also be eaten. The seed coat contains bitter saponin compounds that must be removed before human consumption, but it is this bitter pericarp that keeps the crop nearly untouched by birds. In addition to containing a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, quinoa’s protein content (12%–18%) is very high, making it an unusually complete foodstuff; this means it takes less quinoa protein to meet one's needs than it does wheat protein. Quinoa is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorous and is high in magnesium and iron; it is gluten free and considered easy to digest. There are about 1480 calories in one pound of quinoa flour or seeds (55.3% carbohydrates, 13.1% protein, 5.8% fat, 13.6% fiber, 9.3% water, and 2.9% minerals).

Amaranth: (Amaranthus sp.) with 60 recognized species, makes up its own family, Amaranthaceae. The herbaceous annual grows 5 to 7 feet, with broad leaves and a showy flower head of small, red or magenta, flowers. The seed heads resemble corn tassels, but are somewhat bushier, composed of tiny (1/32"), lens shaped seeds that are a golden, creamy, tan color. Amaranth resists heat and drought; it has no major disease problems, and is among the easiest of plants to grow. Each plant is capable of producing 40,000 to 60,000 seeds that like buckwheat and quinoa, contain protein that is unusually complete for plant sources. The leaves also are a very good source of vitamins including vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, riboflavin, and folate, and dietary minerals including calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese. Several studies have shown that like oats, amaranth seed or oil may benefit those with hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

Oats: (Avena sativa) are an annual grass that reach 1.3 meters in height. Producing an average of 125 bushels per acre, which is 8,000-12,000 pounds per acre of biomass, oats are primarily grown for livestock feed; in fact less than 5% of the total production in this country is for human consumption (mainly as oat flour). Oat is the only cereal containing a globulin or legume-like protein, avenalins, as its major (80%) storage protein. The protein content of the hull-less oat kernel, or groat, ranges from 12–24%, the highest among cereals. Oats help conserve soil, they require relatively less chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides; they reduce water contamination by agricultural chemicals, and provide nutritional benefits to both humans and animals.