Chocolate fuel…What a waste!

While it’s true that chocolate gives you energy, soon it could be giving your car energy as well. Yes, you read correctly: chocolate waste can be made into fuel. There are several ways in which this could be done. One way is to have bacteria convert the chocolate into burnable hydrogen gas; the other is to turn it into biodiesel.

Why would anyone want to do that, you ask? Well, because big chocolate companies like Cadburys throw out hundreds and thousands of deformed and expired chocolate every year.

In December 2007, Andy Pag and John Grimshaw journeyed 4500 miles in a chocolate-powered vehicle. Made from 8818 pounds of chocolate misshapes—the equivalent of 80,000 chocolate bars—the chocolate biodiesel powered them from England to Timbuktu.

The chocolate-derived ethanol was blended with vegetable oil, and the Britons used 396 gallons to complete their journey. Not only was the expedition carbon neutral, it was carbon negative. Ultimately, they used less carbon on their voyage than they would have if they’d stayed at home. The fuel is made from cocoa butter but sadly, does not look or smell like chocolate.

Other innovations racing onto the scene include a car with a steering wheel made out of carrots, wing mirrors constructed in potato starch core and brake pads utilizing cashew nut shells. Sound like something that would have been made on Gilligan’s Island? Well, it’s just the most recent Formula 3 race car screeching onto the racetrack.

The chocolate- and vegetable-fueled vehicle is on a speedy road to environmental sustainability.