Fields of Fuel

FUEL is a great movie for everyone who wants to do something about our environmental crisis but doesn't know where to begin. It is the most comprehensive movie I've seen that details how we got to where we are today in regards to how badly America is addicted to oil and how we can break the addiction. It is just packed with information! The one criticism most people have with environmental films is that they are doomsday outlooks and don't provide any solutions for what we can do. FUEL is NOT like that! It has a positive outlook and includes sooooo many different, new, and REAL solutions we can and should be working on right now in this country! FUEL is meaningful and informative and so engaging all at the same time. Everyone should see this movie to be more informed about what we should be asking for from our government in the ways of independence from oil. Go see this film and help change the world!

At its recent Hollywood Premiere, the film "Fuel" brought the audience to its feet in the longest standing ovation of all its many ovations that it received at every film festival - including each of the 10 screenings at Sundance Film Festival.

This film shows the world what a small percentage of us have known for several years now: Biodiesel is available, works in any diesel vehicle, is made in America, and is better for the environment than petroleum fuels. It does not stop with biodiesel but instead, presents many sustainable energy solutions available right now for individual and planetary health, security and economic prosperity.

"Fuel" goes from Josh Tickell's time on a farm in Germany where he learned that diesel fuel can be made from vegetable and animal products, to his journey across America in the Veggie Van, to the widespread production of biodiesel from used fryer oil, to the present where new biodiesel is being made from algae and new food stocks and is available from ordinary pumps at filling stations.

The film answers the question on everyone's mind these days: Is biodiesel going to make food expensive and starve the poor? The answer is no. Biodiesel is made from oils, while the solids from the feed stock go on to be food for people and animals. The film does not suggest that biodiesel will supply all our food and energy needs. We learn the value of wind, solar, geothermal, and other clean, domestic energy sources in filling the missing pieces of the puzzle that will free us from our dependence on oil.

Fuel weaves a web of connection between US energy/petrol policy and the environmental and foreign policies that ensue from petrol dependence. Without being preachy, the narrator spins a yarn that takes him from the happy-go-lucky days of an Australian childhood to the US where he begins to mature in his views about energy and the most effective means to make a difference.

The film is stuffed with celebrities, the obligatory genuflection to a star-struck culture that can't imagine much if Cher, Willie Nelson, or Bono aren't hyping it. This aside, probably the most important aspect of the narrator's tale is how he realized that he wasn't going to get squat done if he didn't begin to work collectively. This is the most powerful message of his film. The last third of the move details all of the energy solutions afoot right now, which can be implemented with the right pressure on Congress. It's inspiring folks.

There only seemed to be one glaring error. This has to do with his calculus regarding the use of ethanol. I would suggest everyone read Alcohol Can Be a Gas for a more intelligent discussion on ethanol. The other bone to pick is the matter of environmental racism. Americans are likely more predisposed to any card but the infamous race card. The rebound effects for his own mother, however, demonstrate that good old saying by the big J himself, "That which you do to the Least of my brothers, that's what you do onto me."

This was the only film to inspire a standing ovation, to a packed screening, at the 2008 Beverly Hills International Film Festival.

As a Hybrid owner I'm amazed that more manufacturers don't make alternative fuel cars. When this film illustrated the argument for Soy, Cane, and Algea based diesels fuels I determined right then and there my family's next car would run on bio-diesel.

The film is funny, entertaining, very informative, and while it shows the dark side of how we got to our present state of petroleum dependence, it doesn't wallow in the negative, but instead cheers us on to seek fuel alternative that are already here, right now.

For instance, I had no idea that any diesel engine could run on bio-diesel without any adaptation! Also, the amazing advances in Algea based bio-fuels can also produce plastics with a fraction of the environmental impact.

If you see no other environmental documentary, you must see this one! I doesn't lament, it shows us the way.

This film is amazing, beautiful and important. I believe it's this year's Inconvenient Truth but human and moving as it is Josh Tickell's personal story and currently his life mission. Everyone needs to see this film. It's is so inspiring! I am going to trade in my car for one that runs on bio-diesel because that is something I can do to cause change in this crucial area of the economy, foreign policy, the future of this planet! This film is so motivating that you are going to want to tell everyone you know to see this film and it's so timely considering the election and the current state of affairs. I usually find documentaries the cure for insomnia however FUEL is engaging and entertaining and makes you get off your butt and do something that makes a difference for our world!