Raymond's case for the continued primacy of fossil fuels is self-serving, but also compelling: To see his point one need only consider how little effect recent price shocks have had on world demand. But are there really no alternatives to the energy consumption status quo?

You bet there are, says a group of youthful scientists at MU. We just need to ask the right questions. "It's probably true that we're never going to reach a point in time where we don't need combustible fuel," says Jay Thelen, 34, a genetic scientist and assistant professor of biochemistry. "Now we're importing the majority of this fuel. But what if we could provide a renewable source of environment-friendly, domestically produced fuel; a fuel that could power our economy while at the same time increasing the value of our crops?"

Thelen is talking about biofuels, petroleum-free, plant-based combustibles that can power engines with remarkably little pollution. One of the most promising of these fuels is biodiesel, a fuel typically made from soybeans. A 2002 Environmental Protection Agency study found that engines burning biodiesel blends emitted nearly 50 percent fewer particulates, reduced unburned hydrocarbons by 67 percent and curbed carbon monoxide emissions by 48 percent. Users also reported an added bonus: tailpipe exhaust smelled like french fries.

Biodiesel isn't perfect -- burning it has been shown to release elevated levels of the greenhouse gas nitrogen oxide -- but already, according to the Jefferson City-based National Biodiesel Board, more than 500 fleets of vehicles are powering up with biodiesel blends, including those run by NASA, Yellowstone National Park and branches of the U.S. military. Dozens of states, cities and school districts across the nation also use biodiesel; among them are the Missouri Department of Transportation and the cities of Philadelphia and Seattle. John Deere is marketing tractors powered by it. The 2006 Jeep Liberty can run on a 5-percent blend of it.

Powering vehicles with plants is not a new idea. Rudolf Diesel, the German inventor, ran early versions of the engine that bears his name on peanut oil. In a 1912 speech, Diesel said "the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today, but such oils may become, in the course of time, as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present."

President Bush is among those who think that future is now. Last year he told a crowd in Iowa that "I like biodiesel," and he has since urged Congress "to continue their strong support" of it. Music legends Willie Nelson and Neil Young are also believers: Both use a soybean blend to fuel their tour buses. All told, some 30 million gallons of biodiesel were produced in the U.S. last year.

Biofuels can be made from any vegetable oil or animal fat. Oil from soybeans is preferred by U.S. producers, however, because of their ready availability. Sadly, abundance has thus far not translated into low prices. A gallon of B20 -- the blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent conventional diesel that is commonly used to power vehicles -- can cost as much as twice that of petroleum-based products.

This has caused some potential users to balk. School officials in New Orleans, for example (before Hurricane Katrina rendered such questions moot for the time being), cited costs when they pulled the plug on what they otherwise deemed a "successful" biodiesel program.

"It's true that right now it doesn't make sense to replace petroleum oil with soybean oil," says Thelen. "But if current trends continue, we're going to come to a point when the cost of petroleum oil is going to be so high that producing soybean oil will, by comparison, look cheap."

Published by the Office of Research.

©2006 Curators of the University of Missouri. Click here to contact the editor.