It is hard to beat the efficiency of petroleum; vegetable and other organic matter that has been converted by time and pressure.
Chemically changing vegetable oil into burnable fuel is ridiculously inefficient. It is an interesting experiment, but certainly not a solution worth considering even as a component an overall energy plan. Take away the subsidies, and it doesn't stand.
The most immediate thing to do is conservation. Hey, kid, turn the lights off! It takes a pound of coal to light a 100-watt light bulb for an hour. Ride a bicycle to go to the quickie mart for that pack of smokes. Drive vehicles that get 24 miles to the gallon rather than 12 miles to the gallon. Replace incandecent bulbs with LED or Fluorescent bulbs. Turn the thermostat down three degrees and put a sweater on.
These are very simple things so close at hand for all Americans. Even without any new technology added to the mix, we can do things today that will greatly reduce our use of energy no matter what the source of fuel.