Only In California

[Big Dave]

Fill 'Er Up With Human Fat - Forbes.com

[jamesqf]

Can't see the problem myself. Seems an efficient solution to a waste disposal problem. I think medical waste usually gets incinerated anyway (probably at considerable cost), so why not get some use out of it? Even Shakespeare had the idea: "I see the devil will not have me damned, lest the oil that's in me should set Hell on fire"!

Of course it'd be much more efficient to have the patients convert their surplus fat to energy by biking instead of driving, but we don't live in such a perfect world :-)

[Big Dave]

The idea has its merits.

It is legal.
It is moral.
It certainly is not fattening.
There is no government involvement.

Only downside it can see is that the fat must be "rendered" to oil. Rendering is extremely smelly.

Lessee...I need about a hundred gallons per month. That's 700 lb of fuel Figure ten lb per procedure. 1:1 conversion (I don't believe that - let's say 1:2 conversion) so we get 5 lb of B100 per procedure, so I need the fat from 140 procdeures. A good plastic surgeon could keep me in biodiesel.

Remember "Fight Club" - making soap from lipo fat?

[PA32R]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Only downside it can see is that the fat must be "rendered" to oil. Rendering is extremely smelly.

Word. Anybody ever been near the rendering plants in Vernon, CA? I don't even know if they're still there but I had a project next to one back in the '80s and the horror of the stench is still a painful memory to this day.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Lessee...I need about a hundred gallons per month. That's 700 lb of fuel...

But if you got a more efficient vehicle... I use about 10-15 gallons/month in the Insight. With a hybrid diesel, I could manage by grabbing one typical Walmart customer per month, and doing a really good suction job :-)

[PA32R]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

But if you got a more efficient vehicle... I use about 10-15 gallons/month in the Insight. With a hybrid diesel, I could manage by grabbing one typical Walmart customer per month, and doing a really good suction job :-)

An excellent plan indeed, but I'd suggest substituting Hometown Buffet customers for Walmart. I suppose the intersection of the two sets is quite large but Hometown Buffet seems to be a more reliable repository of potential fuel.

[Big Dave]

Folks! You are making this too hard. People pay the surgeons big bucks to suck the blubber off. The surgeons pay salty bucks to get rid of the potential biohazard. They might charge you some trival fee (doctors have astronomical student loans to pay off) but it will be (even after rendering) oil for dirt-cheap.

The reason I did the calculation is to show it could be a good deal for a savvy DIYer. 140 liposuctions a month ain't a drop in the bucket.

The problem remains in the rendering. Maybe the best way is to take your lipo-fat to a commercial rendering plant and trade it for usable oil. Might save having your neighbors burn you out.

[Cd]

Human / cow / chicken fat .... it's all disgusting to me.
( But at least the humans aren't killed, like the animals are. )

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Cd

But at least the humans aren't killed,

Wait a few years, 'til gas/diesel hits about $20/gal :-)

Humm... I think there's a movie in that somewhere...

[mhmitszach]

Anyone else catch this , " biodiesel that fueled his Ford SUV and his girlfriend's Lincoln Navigator."

Where can I get a diesel version of those vehicles in California?