German chemical giant Bayer is hoping to speed up a plan to promote biofuel feedstock production in North America, according to a Reuters report.
The US-Iran Iraq war had prompted a surge in fuel prices and, in turn, had driven renewed interest in biofuels as a means to improve energy security and potentially cut energy costs, the 10 June report said.
“We are targeting a couple of million acres of camelina production in North America, and [are] in the process of evaluating expansion in other geographies,” Bayer’s global head of cereals, cotton and canola Peter Muller told Reuters on 10 June during the International Grains Council (IGC) conference in London.
The move followed Bayer’s announcement in May that it had formed an alliance with energy major bp to commercialise camelina for production of biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The strategic alliance between the two companies followed Bayer’s acquisition of camelina assets from Smart Earth Camelina Corp announced at the end of January 2025.
Although the company had initially planned to reach its targeted camelina planted area by the mid-2030s, Muller said it was now hoping to meet this target earlier given renewed interest in sustainable fuels amid the Iran war.
“Those decisions were taken in a different context... now it’s about ramping things up,” he said.
At the time of the report, Bayer was about to close a deal with a firm that would crush North American camelina, providing farmers with confidence there would be a buyer for their crop, Muller added.
