I am glad we got snowed in at Sundance... saw two more best of fest movies.  One of those was the winner of the Audience Award - Documentary called "Fields of Fuel".  This movie was done by Josh Tickell -- an original proponent of biodiesel fuels.  I spoke to him after the Q&A.  Cool guy, not overly radical.  Really interesting.... After you see this movie, you will want to go to eBay and buy a 1998 Mercedes Diesel so you can feed it 100% biodiesel fuel.  There are no alterations necessary to the vehicle.  Car runs without a decrease in power and the exhaust is sweet smelling, like veggie oil.  I did some research on biodiesel on Wikipedia and the technology is not without some drawbacks (e.g. Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions are increased by 10%.  But the lack of sulfur in the exhaust means that the increase in NOx can be easily overcome with a catalytic converter).

My home state of Minnesota requires that all diesel fuel sold in the state has at least 2% biodiesel.  Go Gophers.

The most compelling part of this movie was the idea of using algae, combined with sugar, to great massive quantities of biodiesel fuel.  The technology is young, but if it ever catches on, it could be a game changer.  I am not sure what the patent situation is on the process.  Got me thinking... this could be an emerging industry.  I wonder if there are any venture-funded companies making a play in this market?

Hit me if you know anything about anything about biodiesel and watch this movie when it comes out. 

That's awesome you had the opportunity to attend Sundance. My wife and I passed through Park City a couple years ago. It's a beautiful area.

Regarding your post, my father in law is into biodiesel big time. He currently drives an old Ford F-250 diesel and is considering converting the engine so it will run on vegetable oil. I'd love to see him follow through with it. If he does, write a post about what it entailed.

I watched an evening news program some time ago that did a special on a school district somewhere down south that converted their entire bus system to run on vegetable oil (the kids loved it). I wouldn't be surprised to see more school districts do this in the future.

Just out of curiosity, have you seen Juno yet? I've had a lot of people tell me it's a great movie.

"Juno" is a good movie and a great launch for the new talent who plays the girl, Ellen Page.  She was nominated for an Oscar.  Personally, I think that nomination was pushing it slightly.  It's a very good independent movie -- well written, well directed, well acted.  Jennifer Garner rocked it, too.

Actually Minnesota was my home town (Wayzata and Minnetonka).  I have lived in New Jersey for a good many years.

The movie "Fields of Fuel" it showed how Las Vegas changed its entire school bus fleet to 100% biodiesel.  Maybe they did that in a southern town as well.