Boat Powered With Human Fat?
I thought that MIGHT catch your attention!
Just caught an interesting story at Sun-Sentinel.com. The Earthrace alternative-fuel power boat is in Florida as part of a world tour promoting its upcoming attempt to circumnavigate the world in record time (current world record is 75 days).
So where did the bit about human-fat-power come from?
Here’s a blurb from the Sun-Sentinel.com article:
Earthrace, according to its promoters, can run on biofuel made from soybeans, canola oil, grape extract and — hold on to your waistlines — human body fat, which is, after all, a kind of animal fat. To show that biofuel can be made from all sorts of things, Peter Bethune, who heads the Earthrace project, allowed a liposuction specialist to extract about 100 grams of his own body fat, which was converted into biodiesel and used to drive the boat for about 330 feet.
Disturbing, yet strangely fascinating! 
Here too is an informative blurb from the Earthrace site:
Earthrace is a bid to break the world record for circumnavigating the globe in a powerboat, and using only renewable fuels. The program includes an 18-month tour calling at 60 of the worlds great cities, promoting fuels like biodiesel, and raising awareness about sustainable use of resources.
Circumnavigating the globe represents the pinnacle of powerboat challenges, and at 24,000 nautical miles, is also the world’s longest race. The current record of 75 days was set by British boat Cable & Wireless in 1998.
The Earthrace aims to smash this record by completing the voyage in less than 65 days, and will mark the first time in history that an official UIM Powerboat record will be attempted using renewable fuel.
Technorati Tags: earthrace, biodiesel, biofuel, power boat, world records, alternative fuels, world tour
Written by Bentley on October 24th, 2006 with
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