On a humid morning in Augsburg, Germany, on August 10, 1893, a ten-foot iron cylinder roared to life for the first time. The engine belonged to Sir Rudolf Diesel, and running through its veins was not the petroleum distillate we associate with his name today, but in fact, peanut oil! Diesel’s early experiment proved something revolutionary for the late Industrial Revolution: the engines driving hu ...[Read More]
This World Biofuel Day, we look to the future with optimism
Fossil fuels have dominated the global energy market for centuries, and so most people find it surprising to learn that the first ever diesel engine (1892) was run entirely on peanut oil. German engineer Sir Rudolf Diesel who built the engine was almost prophetic when he said the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels “may seem insignificant today, but such oils may become in course of time as imp ...[Read More]