Seattle-based biodiesel maker Imperium Renewables announced on Wednesday that its Series B financing round has roped in a total of $214 million, a possible record for the American biodiesel industry.

If you like reading about the *real* biodiesel moguls, the full article is here, hat tip to Ben.

Sad, that these big-money deals so often do not involve feedstock research. They're going to spend it on new over-priced production plants, and apparently continue to use their feedstocks of choice, soy and palm.

Biodiesel, which is fuel created from vegetable oils--including, potentially, the residual fat and oil from fast-food restaurants--is a hot topic these days with all the talk of a need for renewable, clean-burning energy sources.

Currently, Imperium and subsidiary Seattle Biodiesel already operate refineries that produce biodiesel out of farm-grown crops like soy and palm oil.

So, my little company with its less-than-50 little tiny (but VERY, VERY valued) shareholders, is already doing, check that, has been doing for years, what this whale of an empire of a beast of a corporate monolith could "potentially" do, as far as sourcing truly sustainable feedstock? What a great lesson in "small is beautiful", eh?

(Imagining what my company could do with 1/214th of 214 million dollars...)