In the near future, biofuel feedstock patents have the potential to dominate the biofuel patent landscape by covering the most cost-effective means of production. Biomass feedstock is already recognized as the most significant cost driver in biofuel production,[1] and going forward, expensive pretreatment processes will be eliminated by backing pretreatment technology upstream into

feedstock plants. Analysts expect that by 2015 there may be biofuel-specific modifications to feedstock, such as enzymes or microbes that break down cellulose, directly bred into biomass sources. As more and more cost-saving technology is engineered into the already price-significant

feedstock, the economics of biofuel production will crown feedstock patent portfolios as some of the most valuable throughout the biofuel patent landscape.