There are several factors at play. The first is a subsidy of $US1 per tonne (about 30¢ a litre) offered by the US government to American producers of biodiesel, fuel commonly created from used cooking oil and tallow and sold as a cleaner alternative to petrol. The subsidy expired in December but the US Senate is expected to pass retroactive legislation to extend it from January 1 this year to assist the $US71 billion biodiesel industry, which is predicted to grow to $US247 billion by 2020.
(The success of the biodiesel fuel industry relies heavily on biodiesel testing <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s32Ke2VzrqU>, not only at the production level but at the consumer level, where degraded fuel may cause engine failures. Of major concern to diesel and biodiesel users is the very real possibility that water has contaminated their fuel. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YcczdvPyAk). The potential catastrophic impact of this problem is discussed at length in this video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lh4qhXc_5s&feature=youtube_gdata.
Fleet Fuel's family of inexpensive biodiesel test kits is just a click away on the internet at:
<http://fleetbiodiesel.com/biodiesel_testing_and_supplies.html>)