While this may sound like something out of a Homer Simpson fantasy sequence a group in the UK just made a journey from the UK to Timbuktu in a truck powered entirely by biodiesel made from chocolate; or rather the waste chocolate from a manufacturer.
The expedition will be delivering a biodiesel processing unit to MFC, a Malian charity, which will allow biodiesel to be produced locally form sustainable sources, and the carbon savings from the Malian fuel will help to make this expedition Carbon-Negative, a world first! saving 15 tonnes of carbon emissions in the first year alone.
The expedition left the UK on November 26th and arrived in Timbuktu in Mali, West Africa one month later.
In addition to raising awareness to the benefits of bio-fuels to people in the UK (and elsewhere) Ecotec donated one of their biodiesel production units so that the local women in Mali can use it to re-cycle their used cooking oil into biofuel.
In addition, all the equipment used for this journey was salvaged from scrap yards and will remain in Mali where it will be put to good use. This even includes the chocolate powered truck itself.
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10 Responses to “From Wonka To Timbuktu – Running on Chocolate Biodiesel”
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February 4th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Way cool! Who supplied the chocolate?
February 4th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Now the only problem will be deciding whether or not to use Nestle`, Hersey or Godiva when you fill up
February 4th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
MMmmmmmmm…chocolate…droooool!
February 4th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
[...] Biodiesel Experience (Practical Environmentalist via [...]
February 5th, 2008 at 2:05 am
[...] OK, maybe not your car (not yet anyway), but these guys drove from the UK to Timbuktu using the “waste chocolate” from a chocolate [...]
February 5th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Awesome post! Super informative. I bet this truck smells delicious when running. Thanks for sharing.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
[...] man. These people are so dumb. They burn chocolate in their car. They must be high or something. I don’t care how [...]
February 13th, 2008 at 3:17 am
[...] It’s not just the most awesome new Rock Band band name, it’s also a new fuel that’s being used to power this truck “from Wonka to Timbuktu.” That’s 8500 [...]
February 19th, 2008 at 11:26 am
[...] From Wonka To Timbuktu – Running on Chocolate Biodiesel [...]
August 26th, 2008 at 5:17 am
I’ll bet their exhaust smelled delicious!