Pumping up the volume on biodiesel

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Biodiesel rocks! Or at least so thinks rock singer Melissa Etheridge.

Etheridge will perform at the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo in San Francisco in February. She will also address the convention about her love of biodiesel — which is made from non-petroleum-based sources such as soybean oil or even cooking grease.

“I think America is going to come back as an energy leader through renewable, sustainable fuels like biodiesel,” Etheridge said in a statement. Etheridge began running her tour buses on biodiesel back in 2005, and now drives a biodiesel-fueled SUV, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

Although driving an SUV may raise a few eyebrows, Etheridge can claim a fair amount of environmental cred. She wrote the Oscar-winning song “I Need to Wake Up” for the 2006 documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” which has become the “Citizen Kane” of the global warming movement.

Biodiesel, which is often blended with regular diesel fuel, is popular with motorists looking for a replacement for imported oil. There were even reports this year of thefts of restaurant grease as rising diesel prices increased the value of used French fry oil.

Etheridge, by the way, is appearing free of charge, although the National Biodiesel Board will pick up her expenses. The conference runs Feb 1-4.

-- Martin Zimmerman