Amid all the panic regarding the diminishing supplies of fossil fuel as well as its expense. What would you say, if I told you that the history of biodiesel tells us that the knowledge of this renewable energy source has been available for hundreds of years? They are just as effective as petroleum and they are manufactured from renewable sources such as peanut, canola, hemp and soybean oil.

The designer of the diesel motor, Rudolph Diesel saw the potential that renewable biofuels had as early as the late 1800′s. In fact he was adamant about using them in his engines and understood how vital it was that we not become completely reliant on petroleum, fossil based fuels. He was very particular about proving renewable biodiesel was better. His biodiesel was used in his engines till the 1920′s!

Henry Ford was another propundit of biofuels manufactured from fatty acids. He knew these oils were able to produce ethanol and methanol and that vehicle engine could drive safely on these fuels. He also profoundly believed that renewable sources of energy were the future of fuel. He wanted every vehicle his company built to be powered by these.

When he commenced with this, he was in the top of his market and embarked on partnerships with natural oil companies. However in the 1940′s petroleum based companies started advertising and as petroleum fuel was cheaper at the time, this fossil based fuel soon became the number one best seller.

Hemp has been grown for its many properties and it was grown in the US to provide a source for oil to create biofuels. It was found that substances such as peanut and soyabean oil were only able to create small amounts of biofuel, whereas hemp manufactured bigger quantities. Henry Ford realized this substance could be used to revitalize his oil manufacturing plant.

At the same time the discovery of oil had started in the US and entrepreneurs owned these. They also became very rich by supplying oil to petroleum companies. These entrepreneurs did not want Henry Ford to have a share of this market with his hemp oil fuel and campaigned against it, calling the fuel Marijuana. Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hurst became engaged in a campaign to negate this product and was instrumental in getting the Marijuana Tax Act enacted.

This caused panic in people who used this fuel, as possession of it required Government certification and the Government was not handing out these certificates to anyone. Petroleum oil won this war and cornered the market, and that in a nutshell is the history of biodiesel.