When Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine, he designed it to run on peanut oil. It was soon discovered that it would operate on cheaper petroleum oil. Today diesel engines will run, with a little modification, on peanut oil as well as on the oils of canola, soy, corn, sunflower, safflower, palm, olive, coconut, hemp, cottonseed, sesame, and many others. These oils burn much cleaner in a diesel engine than diesel fuel. They emit no sulfur, and thus do not contribute to acid rain. Fossil fuels, on the other hand, release carbon captured millions of years ago, upsetting the atmospheric balance and causing global warming.

Another benefit is that the particulate matter emitted from running on vegetable oil is way lower than diesel fuel. Gone is the obnoxious diesel smell and black smoke, replaced with the smell of cooking oil. Also, any veggie oil spills are biodegradable.