The United States Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy (USDOE) recently released its National Biofuel Action Plan. It is a collaborative inter-agency plan which gives a framework of strategies to “accelerate the development of a sustainable biofuels industry” in the United States. The action plan will be implemented by the Biomass Research and Development (R&D) Board, which is co-chaired by the USDA and USDOE. According to the action plan report, a “five part supply-chain framework” was used to identify the action areas of the Board: (1) Feedstock Production, (2) Feedstock Logistics, (3) Conversion, (4) Distribution, and (5) End Use. Some of the action plan highlights: for Feedstock Production, (a) second generation feedstocks should sustain and enhance water quality/air quality/other ecosystem services, (b) third generation feedstocks should be developed “to increase drought and stress tolerance; increase fertilizer and water use efficiencies”. For Feedstock Logistics, “the Board will facilitate collaboration to develop and deploy logistics systems that can supply cellulosic feedstocks to demonstration facilities currently planned for construction. For Conversion, the board plans to expand “the knowledge of plants, microbes, and enzymes at the system, cellular, and molecular levels” and harness these to develop efficient and cost efficient “re-engineered” biological systems. Details of the action can be obtained from the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) website of the U.S. Department of Energy (URL above)..