Rudolf Diesel

Rudolf Diesel used peanut oil to power the eponymous engine he patented in the 1890s.

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In the late 19th century, the German engineer Rudolf Diesel developed an engine that operated by injecting fuel into cylinders containing air compressed by pistons fuel ignites more easily in compressed air.

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History, it seems, supports Tickell's case as well: both Henry Ford and Rudolf Diesel (inventor of the diesel engine) originally intended for their mechanical marvels to be powered by plant-based fuels.

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Rudolf Diesel was killed after patenting engines that ran smoothly on potentially self-made sources like peanut oil, and the modern electric car was killed by a confluence of Big Oil, Big Auto, and Big Brother.

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Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913), German-born inventor of the diesel engine.

Diesel, Rudolf

But the internal combustion engines invented by the German Nicolas Otto, which, in evolved form, is the one used in all US cars today, took over, and the one by Rudolf Diesel became dominant for trucks, and in more recent years for European cars.

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The diesel engine was originally designed to run on marijuana oil because Rudolf Diesel assumed that it would be the most common fuel.

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Rudolf Diesel encouraged the use of veggie oil in his original engine, and later models require minimal tinkering to guzzle Wesson instead of Exxon: a booster pump here, a high-flow filter there.

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Rudolf Diesel encouraged the use of veggie oil in his original engine, and later models require minimal tinkering to guzzle Wesson instead of Exxon: a booster pump here, a high-flow filter there.

How Slick It Is! Fill 'Er Up With Cooking Oil, Not Crude Oil

When inventor Rudolf Diesel first showed his engine at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris, it was running on 100 percent peanut oil.

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