Auction is on Wednesday, April 16, in Shakopee.

You did. I have that on my car just to get people thinking about biodiesel, not to trumpet my personal use of the fuel. I do use E85 exclusively when I drive one of ALAMN’s leased flex-fuel vehicles.

“There are so many cars and I haven’t heard a single plan for how biodiesel growth would be managed and sustained.”

I have, at the Orlando meeting. It was huge — about 4,000 participants. In spite of some recent problem with the cost of soybeans, the biodiesel industry has seen huge growth, especially in the South. While there is no “grand plan,” it is clear that the industry is growing, getting smarter and leaner, and moving toward divesified raw materials (i.e., not just soy) to make biodiesel.

I expect that a proposal to increase our statewide biodiesel requirement from the current B2 (two percent blend) to B5 (five percent blend) this session. The quality issues with Minnesota biodiesel have been largely resolved (in fact, MN’s efforts to solve its problems were hailed in Orlando as a national model for other states), we have more than enough beans and processing plants here to meet a 5% requirement.

Environmentally, we don’t see big benefits until we move up to B20, which provides a 12% decrease in particulate pollution from the tailpipe. All metro transit buses are moving to B20 this year, BTW. We know from our ethanol experience that these statewide renewable fuel requirements builds an infrastructure and a demand for higher-blend biofuels that many Minnesotans want to use, but just can’t find yet.

I do consider people who try to shame other people into something they don’t want by calling them stupid kinda jerky.

No, real jerky.

Au contraire, IMHO. Once upon a time there were many Americans who bought diesel-engined cars, in the ’70s and ’80s. Diesels got their first big play after the first oil shock in 1973. VW had a diesel version of the Rabbit; both Volvo and Mercedes offered diesel versions of their line-ups. (And used ’60s-era Mercedes could still often be bought for a song and a dance by cost-conscious college students.)

It wasn’t unusual to see diesel cars on the road as recently as the early ’90s … until the price of diesel fuel began to consistently be higher priced than gasoline.

No, I would say most Americans over the age of 35 know of at least two or three people who once owned diesel cars. But diesels tendency to gel in very cold weather was something that prevented the engine from being more popular in cold climates. Many more diesels were on the road in places like California and Florida, though.

My bad. I thought I remembered seeing a decal on your car.

Diesel is a great fuel for our logistical vehicles and biodiesel advancements used solely for that purpose could help uncouple our supply chain from foreign fuel markets.

All those shipping fuel surcharges have an inflationary effect.

When it comes to powering every car with biodiesel or even pushing that x percent of cars should run biodiesel I’m not sure it’s a good idea.

There are so many cars and I haven’t heard a single plan for how biodiesel growth would be managed and sustained.

It seems to me that’s why we end up with these problems of land stripping etc.