Is it possible to convert human body fat to a biofuel to power diesel vehicles?

July 16, 2010, 6:34 am

Question
If it is possible, we could kill two birds with one stone. We could get the federal government to subsidize liposuction, and then render the waste human fat into biodiesel. We could then assist in alleviating the nation's obesity problem with subsidized liposuction, and/or pay contributors for their body fat. Would it/could it work?

Answer
Yes you could make fuel from human fat. It wouldn't supply much fuel though. As fat a country as we are, our prodigious use of fuel dwarfs our fatness. And it wouldn't pay. 100 pounds of fat would make less than 20 gallons of fuel. At $3 a gallon, that is $60. Minus the cost of making the fuel from the fat. Now how much does a liposuction cost? And how many gallons of fuel a week does the average American use?

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