Willie gone bio

On the road again singer Willie Nelson unvieled "BioWillie," his brand of clean-burning fuel made from soybean oil.

BioWillie went on sale at an alternative fuel station in San Diego where the 72-year-old Texan drew a crowd as he filled his tour bus from a pump emblazoned with a picture of himself strumming a guitar.

Biodiesel is also enjoying a kind of folk movement. People all across the world are making the stuff themselves at home.

"It is the future," Nelson said. "Through biodiesel, we can reduce dependency on foreign oil and adopt an energy source that's clean renewable and helps family farmers find new uses for their products."

Actress Darryl Hannah, who drives a biodiesel-powered black Chevrolet El Camino, joined the singer at Pearson Ford Fuel Depot, where drivers can also fill 'em up on propane, ethanol and natural gas.

Biodiesel is America's fastest growing alternative fuel, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. U.S. sales of biodiesel tripled last year to 75 million gallons, but account for less than 1 percent of the diesel fuel sold nationwide, said Jenna Higgins, a spokeswoman for the National Biodiesel Board, which is hosting a conference on biodiesel in San Diego. More than 600 filling stations sell biodiesel to the public.

Nelson first learned about biodiesel three years ago when his wife, Annie, purchased a biodiesel-burning car in Hawaii, where the star has a home. The biodiesel that powered her Volkswagen Jetta was made from grease collected from restaurants. He bought a diesel Mercedes and then began filling his tour buses with biodiesel.

After filling up the singer's bus in Dallas in December 2004, biodiesel supplier Peter Bell convinced Nelson to go into business and lend his name and image to help the little known fuel gain wider acceptance. But Bell said he has been surprised to see the singer devoting much of his time to the cause.

"He shows up at a gas station," Bell said, glancing at the crowd surrounding the singer. "He believes in it 100 percent."

The BioWillie brand, known as B20 is a blend of 80 percent petroleum diesel and 20 percent biodiesel, made from soybean oil, which Nelson stressed was produced by American farmers. Nelson organized Farm Aid two decades ago to draw attention to the plight of the family farm.

In addition to California, BioWillie is now sold in Texas, South Carolina and Georgia and is distributed through Oklahoma City-based Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores. The partnership Nelson formed with Bell and three others, Biodiesel Venture GP, LLC, was acquired in November by Texas-based Earth Biofuels.

Earth Biofuels is a publicly traded company OTCBB:EBOF