“What? That can't be!” is the usual reply. I assure them that since the fuel is created from plants, any CO2 released while driving is balanced by CO2 taken in during the plant's life.

At this point, most rational human beings start getting excited. But they keep looking for the catch. “But we can't possibly take care of the gasoline demands of the entire planet!”

But we can. There are many ways to make this fuel, including using algae farms, and with algae we can fuel the planet. We'll have to change our shameful, wasteful attitude towards energy, but we can do it.

As the person is digesting this, I add that the fuel can be made locally at any scale from a kitchen blender to a million-gallon plant. Of course, with local fuel production our money stays local, too. The four billion dollars flowing out of Oregon every single year can stay local.

Then I deliver the kicker. I actually make the fuel myself, and the industrial byproducts from this process are literally soap and water.

At this point most people are convinced. Unfortunately, their next question generally kills it for folks. “What do I need to use this fuel?”

Knowing that once they hear the answer, 99% of people will write off this nearly perfect fuel, I take a deep breath and tell them they need a vehicle with a diesel engine. This magic fuel is called biodiesel, and it requires a diesel.

“Huh?” the person usually gasps, “But diesels are filthy, loud, black-smoke spewing, stinky nasty evil awful things!”

They aren't really, but most people have stopped listening by this point. The truth is, diesels are great. They get better mileage than gas vehicles, up to 50% better. Compare the gas powered 2005 VW Beetle Turbo S vs. the diesel powered 2005 VW Beetle GLS TDI. The gas Beetle gets 23/30mpg while the diesel gets 31/46. The diesel Beetle even costs about a thousand dollars less!

You don't have to get a new car of course. Reliable used VW and Mercedes cars can be purchased for under a thousand dollars.

Some people favor gas powered hybrids, which get about the same mileage as a new diesel. Better mileage is nice, but they're still using a non-renewable resource. Biodiesel is renewable.

Most people aren't aware that diesels last years longer, require less maintenance, resell at a higher value (as opposed to that hybrid which will lose most of its value due to developing technology), and oh yeah, are able to run this totally non-toxic biodiesel. Yes, biodiesel is non-toxic, too, 10 times less toxic than ordinary table salt. You can drink it.

In fact, this non-toxic element might be one of the most important reasons to switch. Gasoline and petroleum diesel vehicles pollute the air we breathe with cancer-causing particulates. But when you burn biodiesel, you get a mild french-fry smell and 94% less particulates. Biodiesel is the only fuel to have passed the stringent EPA Tier I and II health tests for fuel-- that means it's actually safe to breathe biodiesel fumes. Don't try that with a hybrid!

Some people ask what you do when you need fuel but can't find any biodiesel. I reassure them that they can mix petroleum diesel and biodiesel anytime they have to, and new places to buy biodiesel are coming on-line all the time. For other questions, I point people to http://www.gobiodiesel.org.

Sure, biodiesel has some freezing-weather issues that are easily dealt with, and some cars older than 1992 may need an eight dollar, twenty-minute fix that can be done with a screwdriver and no mechanical experience.

Switching to biodiesel does require an effort. Changing cars takes time and money. But we can't expect to fix our problems without effort. The economic, environmental, social and health benefits of biodiesel are enormous, and I urge everyone who needs a car to go buy a diesel! Isn't our health and the health of the planet worth a penny a mile?

Brian Jamison is an ecopreneur living in Portland, Oregon. He's the President of the Board of Directors of GoBiodiesel Cooperative (http://www.gobiodiesel.org), a local fuel-producing and educational group.

Released under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

-- Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Brian Jamison - President and Co-Founder
http://gobiodiesel.org