Green Energy: Biodiesel And The Free Market

We’ve seen copper prices go through the roof.  And we’ve seen copper thieves thrive.

We’ve seen gasoline prices go through the roof.  And we’ve seen gasoline thieves thrive.

We see the same thing everywhere we look.  The price of a thing goes up, the market [even black] reacts.

Perhaps it’s a coming of age for the biodiesel industry.  But it turns out that as the prices traditional energy sources climbs, the market for alternative energy sources expands.  And in some cases, that actually means there is a black market for those alternative sources.

And so it is that this story coming out of Raleigh shouldn’t be a surprise:

Yellow kitchen grease has become as good as gold as gasoline prices soar and biodiesel fuel becomes more appealing.

Just as one industry’s waste becomes a hot commodity for another, a slippery underworld of fry crooks – kitchen-oil rustlers who strike stealthily with siphon and hose – has emerged.

That’s right.  Now that the price of gasoline is rising, the price of gasoline’s alternative is rising. And because of it’s easy access, the stealing of that alternative is attractive.  People are resorting to stealing kitchen grease in order to sell it on some black market that will then produce biodiesel.

My point?

The market will dictate the response to the [perceived?] diminished supply of fossil fuels.  As the price of oil and gas go up, the attractiveness of other means of energy will also go up.  And because those alternative means are cutting edge, the great news is that as they age, their cost will come down.  As we figure out new breakthroughs in solar, the price will come down.  As we harness wind, the price will come down.  As we come to discover even more sources of energy, THEIR prices will come down as well.

Welcome, kitchen grease, to the big leagues.