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iodiesel, a product of the farm field, dates back to 1885 when Rudolf Diesel developed his first compression combustion engine to run on vegetable oil. So, too, biodiesel could be trucking’s fuel of the future.

Or maybe not.

Willie Nelson, country music warbler and passionate supporter of the family farm, is a prominent advocate. He recently began offering his own version, “BioWillie,” a blend of 20% biodiesel with 80% conventional fuel, at truck stops along the East Coast.

“Biodiesel is the future,” Nelson declared, and he has company in that opinion. It is even possible to whip up a homemade batch in your kitchen or garage. But for every biodiesel backer, there is an engineer or a fleet operator with reservations about the fuel’s role as an alternative for over-the-road trucking.

Alternative fuels are certainly garnering heightened attention these days, as prices of refined petroleum continue to march upward. Although biodiesel is not yet competitive in cost with standard diesel and availability is still spotty, it constitutes a non-petroleum option that is ready to go. Still, only a few in the trucking community have stepped forward to embrace it. Most remain at a wary distance.

For the full story, see the September/October issue of Equipment & Maintenance Update, a supplement to the Sept. 12 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.