It might be worth creating a 'forum charter' type page where everything that's allowed/not allowed on the forum is listed in plain english.
You could have rules on topics such as: Must be at least one of 1) bio/veg related 2) technical 3) of benefit to the membership. Or something along those lines.
You could also spell out the general 'ethos' of the forum, how and why moderators are selected and the steps for disciplining members.
If it's all set out and up front then no one can argue and everyone can see that it's fair. (Or not! 
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That's not a bad idea, but the last thing we want is to look dictatorial. On the other hand it probably helps if people know where they stand ... difficult one!
We already have this page on the wiki ...
http://www.biopowered.co.uk/wiki/Site_guidelines which covers the basics, but if people are going to use the forum more generally rather than to discuss the wiki, perhaps it needs to be made more forum specific.
If I've got the gist of things the general feeling of replies to this thread was not to stick too religiously to just Bio or veg topics.
As for choosing admin, that's been a bit hit and miss! Tony set up the site, so obviously he needed to be admin to do so. He put a link in his signature on the VOD and said no more. Chug and I noticed the link, signed up as members and started exploring. Tony then had to go away for a period, so made Chug and myself Admin to look after things in his absence. (baptism of fire in my case!).
That's the way it stayed for some while. Between the three of us we discussed what we thought the wiki should achieve, how we felt it should be run and, along with others, started to put together the first pages. I have to say that we were all pretty much of one mind on most subjects and the fact that there were three of us meant that we never had a stalemate if there was a rare difference of opinion.
Between us we I believe we had a good mix of talent ... Tony excels on the software side, Chug has years of experience with veg and Bio and was involved in original Biodiesel Tutorial, and I can err, well, draw pictures reasonably well!
We felt that the admin needed broadening so got the two Keiths on-board. Keef, Keith expanded the veg knowledge side of things and KH, Keith with good Bio experience and a mind for experimenting had been a regular user and contributor from early on. Both seem to offer balanced and fair view point (well, most of the time at least) and have subsequently made major and valued contributions.
I'd like to think that collectively we've done a reasonable job to date, but that's not really for us to judge.
Was there a reason for asking how mods are selected? Have we made a hash of things to the point where we deserve to be sacked?
