Pretty soon there won't be a single living organism on earth from which someone won't be trying to extract a biofuel. We've talked about algae, corn, switchgrass, soybeans, wood chips, seaweed, chickens and even liposuction waste. (I wish ants were a biomass source.) So it wasn't much of a surprise when I found this story out of England that says an oil firm and food processing company will produce biodiesel from pig fat. ConocoPhillips says it can produce up to 175 million gallons of animal diesel a year, or about three percent of the United Kingdom's total diesel output.

But towards the end of this story, flags were raised about the ethics of replacing the tiger in your tank (oh, sorry, that's ExxonMobil) with Arnold the pig. Officials said they have yet to discuss the idea with animal rights groups or religious leaders. But PETA did come out with a statement.

"Clearly, the answer to global warming isn't to fill gas guzzling cars with ground up remains of tortured animals, it is to go vegetarian, which is something every person can afford to do and should do for the sake of their own health, animals and the environment," said PETA.

Any fuel made with swine extracts would be mixed with other types of diesel. No one would be able to tell if any bacon diesel was actually in their tank. But there is always the possibility of complaints and lawsuits. I remember the case of a man whose religion prohibited the eating of beef, and he sued a restaurant because of a slight amount of beef flavoring in the oil used to cook french fries. He claimed severe mental distress because he wasn't told.

Part of living in a multicultural society is that you must respect others, but you must also have tolerance for others. I don't foresee the day when fuel will have to be blessed or approved by religious leaders, but this issue will not go away quietly. In the end, leaded gasoline will probably get a better reputation than animal-seasoned biofuel.

[Source: BBC]

Chris Dodd is the first presidential candidate to support a carbon tax. David Roberts at Grist read through Dodd's energy speech from yesterday and found a firm stand on not only expanding a cap and trade bill but enacting a corporate carbon tax.

"An America that taxes the big polluters will have less pollution, more innovation and more freedom. It's that simple," said Dodd.

Dodd believes a corporate carbon tax would generate about $50 billion annually and be used to help solve energy problems and bring new technology to market.

Roberts doesn't give Dodd much of a chance since the money won't be refunded to consumers. He won't win the automakers' support, either, by proposing a 50mpg fuel economy standard. Right now he stands arguably as the greenest candidate running from either party.

[Source: David Roberts / Grist]

A new diesel fuel refined from natural gas is now powering two Mercedes M-class SUVs in South Africa. Developed with gas-to-liquid technology, the two SUVs are believed to be the first regularly-running vehicles on GTL diesel. The new diesel has a cetane rating higher than diesel found in Europe. Other reported benefits include quieter operation and lower emissions but fuel economy is down. The GTL diesel was developed in a joint venture between Sasol and Chevron. The diesel-powered M-class SUVs were donated by Sasol Chevron to the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust and come with a big-cat paint scheme.

[Source: Richard Yarrow / The Car Connection]

There's a low-budget slasher movie making the film festival circuit that's amusing some critics and mystifying others, but it hasn't been labeled boring. Written, directed and produced by first-time filmmaker Alex Orr, "Blood Car" is sort of cross between "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Road Warrior," as far as I can tell from reading some of the more entertaining reviews. The flick is set in the future when gas is approaching $40 a gallon. A bike-riding, vegan school teacher sets out to develop a new fuel from wheat grass but finds that blood is the only catalyst. I'm sorry if I'm giving away too much information here, so here's my spoiler alert warning. You'll have to follow the break to find out more and watch the trailer.

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Ford Motor Company, in observance of the upcoming Earth Day, has posted its own top 10 list of green initiatives for which the company is proud. These include clean diesel technology and use of 6-speed transmissions (shown) in vehicles, but the list also boasts cleaning up factories, improved recycling and use of sustainable fabric. The complete news release follows the jump.

[Source: Ford Motor Co.]

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The Union of Concerned Scientists say the technology to build a highly fuel efficient family vehicle is already available and on the shelf. So Bob Lutz challenged the scientists to show him.

"This is a challenge I want to put out to people who think they have a solution, and are so much smarter than we are," Lutz told the Wall Street Journal, and this quote was repeated in a Detroit News story. "Let them come and see us. If the technology were readily and easily available, what on earth would our motive be for withholding it?"

So the meeting with David Friedman of the UCS was held in Lutz' office, but no one is talking much about what was said. Friedman appeared to be the most frustrated, telling the News that the scientists will "have to build a driveable vehicle" to convince GM that the technology is ready and available. On the other side, Lutz maintains that the scientists don't understand the business, regulatory and consumer issues necessary to sell a car.

[Source: David Shepardson / Detroit News]

We've already heard talk that Formula 1 officials have considered moving toward a diesel engine, now hybrids are the talk of the track. The Federation Internationale de L'Automobile, which hosts F1 racing, is considering using hybrid technology in the race cars. Toyota, which hasn't done very well since it entered F1 a few years ago, would play a strong role in such a move. A Toyota motorsports engineer said such a system would be different than the cars. Honda is also said to be developing a hybrid system capable of withstanding F1 demands on the track. While racing is the antithesis of any green movement, such a dogfight between Toyota and Honda over introducing hybrid technology on the track could turn out to be a blessing for consumer hybrids. The high-energy, high-spending, high-technology atmosphere of Formula 1 would trickle down quickly. Reaching 100mpg in normal driving may not be that far off.

Related:

• No more engine whine, could Formula 1 go diesel?
• Formula 1 will add green measures by 2009

[Source: Kazuo Teranishi / The Asahi Shimbun]

Bengt Halvorson at The Car Connection has posted a critical look at the controversy over the total and complete environmental cost of hybrid vehicles. Yes, they do offer better fuel economy and lower overall emissions, but some critics and analysts say recycling and production costs--including the mining of materials needed for batteries--create an overall larger environmental footprint than a gas-guzzling Hummer.

Much of this debate falls back on a study from CNW Marketing Research that states hybrids use more energy in their lifetime than a large SUV. This dust-to-dust analysis has been blasted by an official at the Union of Concerned Scientists, saying the study was contradicted by MIT and other scientific communities. Toyota has also rejected the study, saying it doesn't reflect the data the automaker has compiled in its lifecycle analysis.

I won't go into all the points raised in Halvorson's lengthy story, which offers the argument that environmental damage and energy are not synonymous. But the biggest problem with engaging in a serious debate is that CNWMR won't release its data or methodology from its report for critical peer review. Meanwhile, the report's conclusions are often stated as fact throughout conservative and anti-environmental commentary.

Related:

• Hummer vs Prius Redux: This time to Hummer? I don't think so!

[Source: Bengt Halvorson /The Car Connection]

In selecting the 12 greenest vehicles, ForbesAutos editors split the roster between hybrids and traditional gas engines that are small and well-tuned. The editors also used EPA data to factor in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The Prius and Civic Hybrid are the only two vehicles to score the highest rating of 10 in greenhouse gases. Who's on the list? You can check out the slide show presentation but only four American brands were on the list, including the Saturn Ion (shown). No luxury hybrids were included; in fact, no vehicle on the list cost more than $35,000. I found one obvious omission: the Honda Civic GX. As a CNG-powered car it's emissions are practically zero but there was no explanation in the story why it wasn't included.

[Source: Dan Lienert / ForbesAutos]

The electric car on a beer budget project is road worthy. We featured this team of EV converters earlier as they took an electric motor from a forklift and dropped it in a Geo Metro. While a welder was working on the battery rack, the team wired up six batteries for an impromptu test drive on city streets. Check out the team's website for more history on the project and updates.

[Source: YouTube]