Mexico, with its serious air pollution, slow progress towards minimizing the sulfur content in its diesel fuel, and burgeoning fleet of cars, is in dire need of some clean fuels. Mexican President Felipe Calderon recently announced a $85 million pilot project to produce biodiesel from non-food crops like jatropha and castor oil plant so as not to avert food crops from the mouths of its hungry populace, EcoAméricas reports. Cost is a major factor here: as the cost of convention diesel has increased to 60 cents a liter ($2.30 a gallon) in Mexico, jatropha is suddenly looking pretty good at 50 cents a liter ($1.90 a gallon).

The government will require the state-owned oil monopoly, Petróleos Mexicanos, known as Pemex, to buy biodiesel from small-scale producers to boost the market and streamline alternative fuels into its distribution system.