Leave it to country-music phenom Willie Nelson to add some old-world glamour to the nerdy and newfangled concept of biodiesel. At the 2006 National Biodiesel Conference in San Diego earlier this month, Willie unveiled a biodiesel hot rod – a sleek recreation of a 1941 Willys pickup truck that has been retrofitted to run on renewable fuel. Only 500 of the concept vehicles will be made, and all will most likely go to fellow celebs, given the astronomical sale price: $97,000.

The goal is simply to pump up the profile of biodiesel, which can be made from substances as disposable as french fry grease and animal manure. To this end, actress Daryl Hannah a glamorous touch to the occasion, presenting Willie with the “Influencer Award” for spreading the biodiesel gospel. (Not present, alas, was Neil Young, another rock-star supporter of the eco-friendly fuel, who promotes it on his cross-country tours.)

In case you're wondering why Daryl Hannah was there, she herself has become quite the fuel-warrior, having teamed up with Grassolean Solutions to promote biodiesel. She flaunts her off-grid lifestyle and pilots her very own veggie mobile, a biodiesel-powered 1984 Chevy El Camino.

But it is Nelson who has come to be known as the icon of biofuels. He powers all his personal vehicles and his tour bus on biodiesel, and founded Biowillie.org to spread the word about the environmental advantages of biodiesel among the internet grassroots. Consider this BioWillie fact, for example: Biodiesel reduces carbon dioxide exhaust emissions by up to 80 percent.

Image credit: Biowillie.org