Lamb Power

IN New Zealand, where sheep outnumber the three million inhabitants by 23 to 1, the animals are being used to produce some of the country’s horsepower. The surplus fat of an average lamb is processed to produce a half gallon of methyl ester of tallow, which is blended with regular diesel fuel.

The resulting diesel-fuel blend has been successfully tested in everything from electrical generators to fishing boats.

Trucks and buses are said to get about ten miles per lamb. According to Omni magazine, “sheep could provide more than 10 percent of the country’s diesel fuel and ensure that when world oil prices start to rise again, New Zealand drivers won’t get fleeced at the pumps.”