Foundations of Biofuels to Their Future By Jasmeet Jun 1, 1897 Rudolf Diesel Discovers the First Biofuel Engine The first modern usage of biofuels can be linked back to Rudolf Diesel in 1897 when he successfully created the first diesel engine to run on peanut oil. Jun 1, 1908 Henry Ford Invented the Model T Engine The Model T Ford was the first flexible-fuel automobile of its kind, since it ran on petroleum, ethanol, or acombination of both. Jun 1, 1970 Clean Air Act This allowed the EPA to more closely regulate emissions standards for pollutants like sulfur dioxides, carbon monoxide, ozone and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Aug 1, 1982 First International Conference on Plant and Vegetable Oils This conference dealt with matters ranging from fuel cost and the effects of vegetable oil to fuel additives and extraction methods. Oct 24, 1992 Energy Policy Act The Energy Policy Act (EPA) aimed at increasing the amount of alternative fuel used by the U.S. government transportation fleets in order to reduce dependency on foreign oil. Jun 1, 1998 EPACT The 1998 EPACT amendment included using biodiesel fuel in existing government diesel vehicles as an acceptable alternative to purchasing alternative fuel vehicles, or AFVs, as stipulated in the original EPACT. Jun 1, 2006 Chevron Starts Donating Chevron said it would invest up to $12m on technology to make biofuels from forest and agricultural waste and fuel from hydrogen. Jun 26, 2009 House passes sweeping energy, climate bill Sets mandatory caps on greenhouse gases for first time ever. Aims to make renewable energy cost competitive with fossil fuel. Mar 31, 2010 President Obama highlights AFMC biofuels flight during energy speech at Andrews An Air Force first-ever feasiblity flight demonstration of an A-10C Thunderbolt II fueled with a blend of biofuels garnered added attention today when President Barack Obama delivered a speech about energy security at Joint Base Andrews, Md. Oct 13, 2010 EPA Grants E15 Waiver for Newer Vehicles The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today waived a limitation on selling fuel that is more than 10 percent ethanol for model year 2007 and newer cars and light trucks. Jun 1, 2011 Ethanol Consumption Increases Nine-Fold We have gone from 1 billion bushels of corn being used for ethanol in 2002, to 9 billion bushels of corn being used for ethanol in 2011.
