Clessie Cummins tested one on whale oil before installing
in in a ship for arctic research. If they needed, they could
harvest their own fuel. Bet that smelled great!
It is so good it was used in tranny fluid up until the late 60's I think, simply because they couldn't synthesize anything better yet.
The whalers put up a good fight, but nobody plays as down and dirty as the Rockefeller's Petrogang.
They even bankrolled Prohibition just to get rid of the rest of the alternative fuels (same reason Hearst & co. demonized hemp).