Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Yuck.

A plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills was using his patients' fat to make biodiesel. Yeah, I know, you want to puke. And yet, it's kind of a good idea... it was just going to go to waste, right?

Check it out on Forbes.com: "Fill 'Er Up With Human Fat."

According to the article:
Love handles can power a car? Frighteningly, yes. Fat--whether animal or vegetable--contains triglycerides that can be extracted and turned into diesel.

A gallon of grease will get you about a gallon of fuel, and drivers can get about the same amount of mileage from fat fuel as they do from regular diesel, according to Jenna Higgins of the National Biodiesel Board. Animal fats need to undergo an additional step to get rid of free fatty acids not present in vegetable oils, but otherwise, there's no difference, she says.

Um, ew. Apparently the doc and his girlfriend have fled the country because using human fat for stuff is definitely illegal, on top of the fact that he was letting the girlfriend and his assistants perform surgeries without licenses, and dozens of patients reported having too much cut off of them and "left them disfigured."

I'm totally disgusted and yet all I can do is wonder what human fat biodiesel smells like. Ew, I'm sorry.

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