A Sea Of Red

The fastest eco boat on the planet will attempt to break the round the world speed record using fuel made from human fat.

Pete Bethune, the New Zealand skipper of Earthrace, said the attempt to circumnavigate the globe would begin from Valencia in Spain on March 1 next year.

Bethune and his wife mortgaged their house and sold everything they own to help make the project happen, while continuing to seek support from sponsors.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1770

I did the math on this -- no, I don't know why -- and, based on the numbers in the article, I figure one full tankload of fuel for the "Fat Boat" requires the fat sucked out of 569 lardos. They will have to refuel three times to reach their goal meaning that more than 2,000 people will have to have given their flab to the cause.

I'll leave the creepy Matrix/Soylent Green jokes to the Aussies on this one.

That is interesting. In the pursuit of alternative car fuel sources, I wonder what the per-gallon cost to MPG ratio would look like. Could we use human fat to heat our houses too? Imagine a world where liposuction is subsidized by the fuel companies.