Turning Diesel Green - The People Who Built California's Biodiesel Industry

The co-owners of Dogpatch Biofuels, Jolie Ginsburg and Brian Deninger, are two of the subjects of the new documentary Turning Diesel Green, which details the origins of California’s world leading biodiesel industry. 

California in the late twentieth century was the perfect incubator for advances in low-carbon travel, not only because it suffered from the nation’s worst air pollution from petroleum fuels, but also because its residents had the right mix of pioneer spirit, engineering ability, and liberal values to have the desire and ability to break free from environmentally destructive petroleum fuels in favor of biofuels produced by American small businesses. 

Turning Diesel Green shows how even though the biofuels industry was mostly founded for non-financial reasons like sustainability and energy independence, it has become an economic success story as well, with biodiesel and renewable diesel accounting for almost half of the diesel fuel used in the state in 2022, a market share that has led to the biggest energy companies in the world incorporating biofuels into their strategies.  

Turning Diesel Green will be released in 2024, watch the trailer here today and read more about the film here.