# Biodiesel has become so popular it's driving up the price of soy oil for eaters **URL:** \ **Category:** Power/Fuel\ **Created:** [October 29, 2021, 1:42am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/biodiesel-has-become-so-popular-its-driving-up-the-price-of-soy-oil-for-eaters/180293 "2021-10-29T01:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RandomTroll](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/randomtroll/32/12184_2.png) [@RandomTroll](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RandomTroll)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 1:42am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/biodiesel-has-become-so-popular-its-driving-up-the-price-of-soy-oil-for-eaters/180293/1 "2021-10-29T01:42:13Z")
‘ATC’ had this segment tonight: > **[Biodiesel is booming. It may help the climate, but there's a big...](https://www.npr.org/2021/10/28/1043413986/biodiesel-is-booming-it-may-help-the-climate-but-theres-a-big-environmental-risk)** > > Big oil companies are converting refineries to make "renewable diesel" from soybean oil or beef tallow. It's driven by policies intended to help the climate, but there's a big environmental risk. BTW, you can be converted into biodiesel, too. Real motorheads can donate their bodies to Changing World Technologies, which is turning animal corpses into biodiesel. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 2:25am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/biodiesel-has-become-so-popular-its-driving-up-the-price-of-soy-oil-for-eaters/180293/2 "2021-10-29T02:25:07Z")
When Europe first went big for biodiesel, guess what happened? Thousands of acres of Indonesian rain forest was cut down to plant oil palm trees. An ecological disaster. “Biodiesel is a crime against humanity” said one writer. I agree. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/biodiesel-has-become-so-popular-its-driving-up-the-price-of-soy-oil-for-eaters/180293/3 "2021-10-29T18:07:49Z")
There’s always unintended consequences. ---
**Author:** ![wentwest](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wentwest/32/6073_2.png) [@wentwest](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wentwest)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 5:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/biodiesel-has-become-so-popular-its-driving-up-the-price-of-soy-oil-for-eaters/180293/4 "2021-10-31T17:12:43Z")
Maybe I’m mistaken (known to happen) but I thought diesel generally was a fading technology for cars and small trucks. It would be surprising to think that petroleum companies would be investing big bucks to create another source for diesel fuel. ---
**Author:** ![Scrapyard-John](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@Scrapyard-John](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Scrapyard-John)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/biodiesel-has-become-so-popular-its-driving-up-the-price-of-soy-oil-for-eaters/180293/5 "2021-10-31T20:38:43Z")
Think about all the semi’s on the road. They’re all diesels. Seems like a pretty good market for a petroleum company to invest in, right? Plus, you’ve got the government subsidies (or penalties if you’re on the other side of the coin) that increase the appeal.