In Colorado, it’s easy to find biodiesel distributors in major cities along the Front Range. We recently fueled up in Fort Collins, and were pleased to find that the cost of biodiesel was more reasonable than ever. It was about nine cents higher per gallon than regular diesel, but not as bad as the last time we went looking for it.

But my joy at the cheap price quickly disappeared a few days later, when I read the latest news about the biodiesel industry’s assault on the rain forest and orangutans. As oil prices rise, the industry is  accelerating rain forest destruction, just to grow the palm trees needed to produce this alternative to oil. Manufactured biodiesel is now as morally corrupt as anything big oil manufactures, if not worse.

I used to be a real believer in biodiesel. But these recent relevations are just so depressing. From now on, we’ll only be purchasing biodiesel if it’s made from 100 percent waste oil, or we’re making it ourselves.

Just a quick update on the search for biodiesel.

When we left California in June 2007, the cost of biodiesel was comparable to diesel fuel. Maybe a few cents a gallon more, but to me it was worth it to do my part in helping the planet.

However, since returing to the West Coast, we’ve had a harder time finding anything better than B5. Even back in Eureka where we first started filling our tank with it, locating an outlet was challenging.

Suddenly, not as many stations seem to be offering it anymore.

When we finally did pull into a station that had some, they were selling it at $4.00/gallon for B100. Almost twice as much as even the priciest diesel in San Francisco. We pulled out of that station faster than we pulled in.

It’s disappointing to see that biodiesel is becoming less of an option today. Someday in the future we’ll build our own stealth fueling station, but until then, it looks like nasty ol’ Number Two will going into our tank.

If you have any secret sources for finding biodiesel on the road, please let us know with a comment below!