The production of acrylonitrile from biomass is in its infancy. We have reviewed the most pertinent literature in this area and find that the highest yields of acrylonitrile (60 %, on 5 cc microreactor scale) are obtained from glycerol as the biomass derived feed material. Unfortunately, because glycerol is derived from a food-biomass source, its use for industrial purposes is rather unacceptable to the general public and most governments. A more palatable biomass feed, derived from non-food sources, would be propionic acid or glutamic acid. Unfortunately, the acrylonitrile yields achieved thus far from these starting materials are rather miniscule. Yet, if in the future, a biomass based acrylonitrile process were to be desired, it will have to be based on non-food biomass derived feeds. Therefore, it will be necessary to develop novel catalysts to achieve this desired goal. With the price of crude oil being at decade low levels ($30–$35/barrel) it will be a formidable challenge for bio-based acrylonitrile processes to compete, not to mention replace, the world leading SOHIO acrylonitrile ammoxidation process using propylene as feed. In excess of 7 billion kg/year of acrylonitrile (1 kg/year for each person on earth) are produced worldwide by this process using advanced Bi-Mo-Ox based catalysts, which give acrylonitrile yields of 80+ % on commercial scale. While not impossible, it will require a great deal of scientific and engineering prowess to develop a non-food bio-based acrylonitrile process, and it will require a substantial commitment and generous subsidies from interested governments to achieve this desired goal.