The Biodiesel Program is part of Loyola's Center for Urban Environmental Research and Policy (CUERP), one of Loyola's interdisciplinary centers of excellence.

In the Fall of 2007, the first Solutions to Environmental Problems (STEP): Biodiesel class started to explore biodiesel production on Loyola's Lakeshore Campus. Student projects continued to build on previous work until Spring 2009 when the Biodiesel Program emerged as an education program within CUERP.

The Biodiesel Program now focuses on production, education, and outreach efforts centered around utilizing waste vegetable oil from campus cafeterias to create energy and other products.