Photos: Getting around on biodiesel

These plastic tanks in Josh Tickell's backyard are used to demonstrate how biodiesel fuel is made. The process involves mixing vegetable oil with an alcohol, typically methanol, and a catalyst, usually lye (or sodium hydroxide), to extract glycerin from the vegetable oil and "thin" it to make it compatible with the diesel engine.

"If you can make a margarita, you can make biodiesel," Tickell says.