What is biodiesel?

Biodiesel is a fuel derived from plants. It is an alternative fuel to standard fossil fuels, that can be made from fats and vegetable oils. It contains no petroleum or petroleum-products. If made correctly, it can be used in diesel engines with few or no modifications.

The diesel engine as we know it today was originally designed to run on mineral oil, but was able to operate on vegetable oil just as well, later Mr Diesel agreed that peanut oil was a viable alternative. The french government sponsored the peanut oil alternative at the 1900 Paris Exhibition. Vegetable oil, (essentially the original biodiesel), rather than the petroleum-based diesel fuels that tend to be used today was the fuel of choice for the engine. There was even a push to use Hemp oil; manufacturing processes were even perfected for its use before it was banned.