The 2009 National Biodiesel Board Conference in San FranciscoE. "Doc" Smithbyline‚ Feb. 05‚ 2009The world of biodiesel producers, advocates, retailers and scientists, descended on San Francisco this week for the annual 2009 National Biodiesel Board Conference and the Sustainable Biodiesel Summit at the Moscone Center. San Francisco is perhaps the largest city in the world to employ biodiesel in its diesel fleet, including MUNI and the SF Fire Department, as well as private companies like the Red and White fleet at Fisherman's Wharf and the locomotives of the San Francisco Bay Railroad. With luminaries from around the globe and advocates like actress Darryl Hannah in attendance, the NBB's executive director Joe Jobe opened the conference and spoke of the many challenges facing this alternative fuel, including an assault from junk scientists and lobbyists from the petroleum industry. To showcase San Francisco for the event, Jobe scouted the city several months ago, filming San Francisco's wide array of successful biodiesel uses, from the SFPUC's successful Greasecycle, to Berkeley's Biofuel Oasis. What transpired was an unforgettable week of biodiesel education, networking and the resolve to join together in facing one of the planet's biggest challenges, our dependance on oil. |