OAK RIDGE NORTH, Texas -- Chicken fat and a $3.5 million investment are behind a breakthrough in the way Texans heat, cool and light their homes and offices.
Using the slimy, light-colored tallow as the source for clean-burning biodiesel, Biofuels Power Corp. flipped the switch on three, 2,000-horsepower diesel engines a couple of weeks ago, adding a bit more energy to the massive grid that powers much of the Lone Star State.
Privately held Biofuels Power and others in the renewable energy business say the plant is the first of its kind to produce power for sale on the open market using only biodiesel, a petroleum-free alternative fuel made from plant oils like cotton seed and animal fat -- in this case, chicken fat.
- Lets cue the Chicken Dance featuring Vince Neil of Motley Crue. Press play.
- How do they get the fat out of the chickens, liposuction? Er... uh.
- The markets are off the the races as I type. Despite some nervous talk about China, more mergers and acquisitions are fueling optimism this morning. Oil prices continue to tumble over the slowing world economies.
- Chickens are a renewable resource.
- Chicken: It's what's for dinner. It's also what's running the stove.
- So is the correction over? Looking at the charts from last week, wednesday's reversal was pretty powerful. I don't have a buy signal from the Black Box, and wonder if this is just another relief rally in the correction.
- The Black Box has a few buy signals on stocks that normally mean good things for the market. I'm going to be a little more patient with real money, but for the CNBC stock challenge I'm buying AMGN, C, and GE.
- Chicken fat in the gas tank?
- I was just working from home today, but the boss just called and asked me to come in for some meetings. The real madness in March has NOTHING to do with the NCAA!