“The use of vegetable oils for fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become, in course of time, as important as petroleum and coal tar products of the present time.”

Unfortunately Dr. Diesel died in 1913 before his vision of a vegetable powered engine was fully realized. Since this time his engine was modified to run on petroleum based “diesel”. Now, 100 years later it is time to revisit the visionary ideas of Dr. Diesel, and the use of vegetable oils as fuel for engines, now known as biodiesel.

Biofuel could provide 15 per cent of fuel by 2030

1:13PM Wednesday July 18, 2007

Biofuel could power 35 per cent of America's cars in just over 20 years.

More than 100 billion gallons of bioethanol and biodiesel could be being produced by 2030, according to a report from industry research company Global Insight - enough to supply more than 15 percent of global demand for motoring fuels.

In the US, the figure could rise to as much as 35 percent.

Global Insight also suggests that corn and sugarcane will remain the lowest cost source of bioethanol, and that non-food crops such as jatropha, which has the advantage of growing on land of marginal agricultural use, and pond-grown algae could become important sources too.

The report adds that virtually all of today's cars are capable of running with a five percent mix of biofuel (indeed, many UK supermarkets already sell fuel with this mix) and that little modification is required to enable cars to use a 30 percent mix.

- REUTERS