Running America on liposuctioned fat

I've read two separate stories recently about the potential benefits of burning human fat for energy. And while EcoGeek has, in fact, posted stories about running boats with human fat and creating motor oil with cow fat ... the idea is full of holes, and I'm hoping that the rather long article I just read is a joke, although I can't really tell.

But I wanted this to be clear -- burning human fat is not a solution to the energy crisis for several reasons:

• There just isn't enough. All of America's excess fat combined (coming in at an average of 20 lbs. per person) is enough to fuel America's car fleet for less than two days. (We burn 380 million gallons of gas a day.)


• It's extremely inefficient. We complain about the inefficiency of corn ethanol, but imagine having to take the extra step of getting converted into human fat, and THEN into biodiesel ... it's much cheaper and more efficient just to make it straight from the plant.


• It's kinda mean. Yeah, the article's a joke, but obesity isn't all that funny. It's like saying "we could burn cancer and heat homes! Hahahaha!" It's only funny if you're drunk ... or mean.

That's all, just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page. It's a joke and not a very nice one.