Turning Diesel Green
Celia DuBose, Writer & Director / 2023
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Turning Diesel Green presents the stories of the intrepid pioneers who came together to bring biodiesel — a much cleaner-burning alternative to petroleum diesel fuel — to market in California, a state suffering from some of the worst air pollution in the country. In interviews with these early risk-takers, their commitment to biodiesel made from waste-based sources — mainly recycled restaurant grease and animal fats — is revealed in the struggles they encounter with changing state and federal regulations, unexpected economic challenges, and the growing pains of a nascent industry.
Central to the overarching narrative of their stories is the fact that biodiesel made from waste-based sources produced the lowest carbon liquid transportation fuel that — remarkably — became key to the stunning early success of California's first-in-the world Low Carbon Fuel Standard or LCFS. The LCFS has been so successful in lowering carbon emissions from transportation fuels that it is being adopted by other states, regions, even countries. These stories tell how more and more petroleum companies are complying with the LCFS by not just blending biodiesel into their fuel, but by converting their refineries to produce renewable diesel — biodiesel’s sister fuel, which is made from the same non-petroleum fats and oils but through a different process. In 2022, some 1.7 billion gallons of biodiesel and renewable diesel — 46% of the volume of diesel fuel consumed in the state — were blended into California’s diesel fuel supply in compliance with LCFS requirements. Some experts project that renewable diesel fuels may almost completely replace petroleum diesel in the state within the next several years. Turning Diesel Green documents the never-before-told stories of the fearless early adopters who played a vital role in ushering in a revolutionary new era of low carbon transportation solutions in California and beyond! |
When California visionaries ban together to recycle used fats and oils into the lowest carbon liquid transportation fuel, they displace toxic petroleum diesel fuel and start a revolution.” |
The People Who Built California's Biodiesel Industry; Randall von Wedel, Dave Williamson, Russ Teall, SaraHope Smith, Jennifer Radtke, Kumar Plocher, Jolie Ginsburg, Brian Deninger, Ben Jordan, Eric Smith, Kent Bullard, Curtis Wright, Doug Smith, Jennifer Case, Ryan Lamberg, Joe Gershen, Harry Simpson, and Eric Bowen.