Ohio isn't exactly the first place you'd think of when you say the word 'alternative fuels.' But being a state with a strong agricultural background (everyone who visits me just gets overwhelmed by fields and fields of corn and soybeans) it isn't surprising to see biodiesel getting more and more attention here as farmers glom onto the concept.

The Chillocothe Gazette has a series of interesting stories about biodiesel. The first is that ASAlliance Biofuels LLC is getting further along in making its $120 million facility that will take some 40 million bushels of corn from local farmers for its operation. With the strong agri-business background in Ohio, it would be nice to see more businesses like this courted with an eye towards a future that may need more alternative fuels.

The second article is a profile of Fayette County farmer Ron Rockhold, who is totally into biodiesel fuel, which he himself uses for all his vehicles, along with a handful of other farmers mentioned in the article. They do it because they indicate it burns cleaner, gums up their equipment less, and many of them believe it is more patriotic to invest in biodiesel which is American-made.

And the last article is coverage of another maverick individual who is making his own biodiesel from left over vegetable oil he gets from local restaurants. As time passes, I imagine more stories like that of the farmers using biodiesel to run equipment, and of people in Ohio looking to it as a way of investing in edgy new fuel concepts. We certainly have the natural resources all around us to become a leader in this area. Wired magazine points out that U.S. biodiesel market tripled last year, and might grow to be some 10 billion gallons a year soon. A far cry from 60 billion a year in regular diesel used, and the 146 billion gallons of gas used a year, but still a  growing market.