Where customers become community
I co-founded the BioFuel Oasis in Berkeley, California, in 2003 to give people who didn't have time to make their own fuel a retail place to buy it. Switching to biodiesel proved to be an empowering, life-altering experience for many of our customers. I remember one customer crying when filling up with biodiesel for the first time, because it was the first time the person felt like purchasing fuel wasn't supporting the war over petroleum. We know many of our customers by name and have nurtured community among them as they wait in line.

Our customers are innovators, not only because they use biodiesel, but because of the work they do. They are green architects, green builders, edible- and native-landscape designers, solar panel installers, environmental and social justice activists, and more. They are inspiring to talk to and their generosity and contributions helped make our new station possible. Our incredible customers are why I love working at the Oasis.

A fuel like no other
Biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine. It is like no other fuel -- with benefits that go on and on. At our new station's grand opening, we gave a toast with biodiesel and drank it to show how truly nontoxic it is. It's nonflammable and safe to store. It is a domestic product that contributes to our local economy and reduces our dependence on foreign oil. It's a renewable fuel that is made from oil plants, so we can keep growing it and making it, unlike petroleum, which is a finite resource. It has significantly cleaner emissions than petroleum diesel. Biodiesel emissions did not cause cancer or any other health problems in laboratory rats, whereas petroleum emissions caused the rats to die.

Biodiesel has 80 percent lower carbon emissions than diesel fuel. It contributes less to climate change, because when oil plants grow, they take in carbon. The oil from the plants is made into biodiesel. When the biodiesel is burned, it's releasing carbon that was recently taken in by the plants from the atmosphere. When petroleum is burned, carbon is released that has been sequestered in the ground for a million years, and this adds to the carbon in the atmosphere.

Recycled from deep fryers
Most biodiesel in the U.S. is made from soybean oil that has never been used. In California, soybeans or other oil plants aren't commonly grown, so we think the most sustainable source for biodiesel is a waste product -- recycled vegetable oil from restaurant deep fryers. At the BioFuel Oasis, most of the fuel we sell is made by Yokayo Biofuels, a small pioneering company in Ukiah, California. Yokayo collects vegetable oil from restaurants in Northern California and makes it into biodiesel.

Biodiesel typically costs 50 cents to a dollar more per gallon than petrodiesel and gasoline. The high price of fuel is an incentive to drive less. Our customers make up this difference by living closer to work and biking, walking and using public transit more. Ultimately, the best thing for the environment is to drive less or, better yet, not drive at all.

Jennifer Radtke is a co-founder of and worker-owner at the BioFuel Oasis cooperative in Berkeley, California. She is also the author of "Not a Gas Station: A History of the BioFuel Oasis and How to Create Your Own Biodiesel Filling Station." For more information about biodiesel, please see the BioFuel Oasis website at biofueloasis.com.