As more and more consumers turn to biodiesel fuels, they are turning to small independent companies such as United Oil Co. on the North Side.

About a year ago, the 101-year-old company retooled, transforming itself from a maker of industrial lubricants to a producer of fuel made primarily from animal fats. In its first year as a biodiesel producer, United Oil's sales tripled, leading owner Charles Cross to increase annual production capacity to 5 million from 1.5 million gallons and his work force from four to six.

"We have the capability of expanding production even further by adding just a couple of more people," Mr. Cross said. "There's a lot of room for us to expand as the demand becomes prevalent."

His is one of several examples of local firms and advocates pushing to make Pittsburgh a center for biodiesel production -- and consumption. Steel City Biofuels, a nonprofit organization formed in 2005 to promote the use of non-fossil fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol, has received funding from the Heinz Endowments and the Richard King Mellon Foundation to create a demonstration biodiesel fuel producing facility at Construction Junction, a recycling center for construction and related materials in North Point Breeze.

On the government front, the Rendell administration has established an "alternative energy portfolio standard" under which the state increasingly will use alternative energy sources, and has unveiled plans to spend $30 million over the next five years to build the infrastructure for producing and distributing up to 900 million gallons of alternative fuels yearly.

Locally, the City of Pittsburgh is moving toward using biofuels for its 1,000-vehicle fleet. Late last year, it unveiled plans to turn waste vegetable oil and grease from Heinz Field's refreshment stands and restaurants into cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel for the city's 300 dump trucks, garbage trucks, fire trucks and ambulances that run on traditional diesel fuel.