Biodiesel history

Knothe, G. 2005. The History of Vegetable Oil-Based Diesel Fuels. In Knothe, G., Krahl, J. and Van Gerpen, J. (Eds.), The Biodiesel Handbook (pp. 4-16). Champaign IL AOCS Press. 

Knothe, G. The history of vegetable oil-based diesel fuels. The Biodiesel Handbook, G. Knothe, J. Krahl, J. Van Gerpen, Eds AOCS Press Champaign, IL, 2005 pp. 4—16. 

The study of microbial production of 1,3-propanediol has an interesting history (reviewed by Biebl et al. 1999). It is one of the oldest fermentation products known and has been studied for over 100 years. For a number of years, interest in the fermentation was due to its potential as an outlet for surplus glycerol. Glycerol can be made via a chemical process, or it can be derived from various agricultural fats during the production of fatty acids and soaps. Increased availability of low-cost glycerol might be expected in the future, as it is a by-product of such processes as transesterification of fats for biodiesel production as well as the process for ethanol production by yeast. 

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