"What is biodiesel?"

That was the question to one of the answers on last night’s broadcast of Jeopardy, demonstrating the fuel has reached a new level in mainstream consciousness. No doubt due, in part, to promotions by celebrities like Willie Nelson, who has his own brand of biodiesel, or Prince Charles, who is working on his own fleet of vehicles running on B100. But did you know that biodiesel actually started out as a grassroots effort?

Biodiesel did not come out of intense study by well endowed universities. Biodiesel was not the result of an international chemical company’s research. Biodiesel did not come from royalty or country western singers. Biodiesel came out of regular people’s garages. Regular people bought tanks and tubing, got waste oil from local restaurants, made their own fuel, and ran their cars on it.

In this day and age, rarely is there a chemical industry that starts at home. You might get a rock band or a dot com, but thanks to the support of biodiesel cooperatives and clubs, home “brewers” of biodiesel have a place to learn and share and develop their “craft”.

Just as before the pub, beer was brewed at home, biodiesel "brewing" has become a home activity, especially for folks concerned about the environment. Now you can buy biodiesel kits, take biodiesel-making classes, or attend biodiesel brewing parties complete with wine and cheese. Some folks even spike their fuel with essential oils like lavender and rosemary, so that it burns with a pleasant after-nose.

Running diesel engines on something other than petroleum is not a novel idea. At the end of the 19th century the inventor of the diesel engine, Rudolph Diesel, used biodiesel to show off his creation to the world. The chemistry for making biodiesel has been known for even longer. But when petroleum was popularized in the twenties, #2 fuel oil or "diesel" pushed the vegetable oil-based fuel out. Biodiesel began its slow resurgence along with wood stoves and thermal envelope homes during the energy crisis in the 1970's, mostly as a homemade fuel.

Thirty years later, we are in the middle of another turning point for biodiesel. Home-brewed beer begot Budweiser and Corona. Similarly, the commercialization of biodiesel production is promising a steadier, better quality supply for a larger market. According to the National Biodiesel Board, 75 million gallons of biodiesel were produced in 2005 and the 85 US biodiesel companies have a current combined capacity of 580 million gallons per year, which will grow to 1.4 billion gallons per year by 2008. A small but noticeable dent in our annual diesel consumption of 40 billion gallons per year for on-road vehicles.

Commercialization is also changing the face of biodiesel culture. It's no longer just for biodiesel enthusiasts who care about the environment. It's gotten the attention of entrepreneurs and investors looking for profits. It's gotten the attention of some regulators and policy makers skeptical of the fuel's promise for a better environment. This might sound harsh to those who have come to love the fuel, but it is part of biodiesel's transition from infancy to proving itself in a capitalist environment. To have a significant impact on reducing our carbon footprint or on transforming our relationship with oil, it must go through the economic and regulatory rigor that will demonstrate its viability. You may argue, this commercialization is happening with the help of government subsidies, but petroleum had its share as well. And yes, you can also argue it is happening with the help of royalty and country western singers, and you'd be right.

References:
Common Ground Magazine December 2006: Wisdom on Wheels by Emily Dulcan
Biodiesel America .org
Bdpedia
EIA Website