A boat with a mission New Zealander Pete Bethune firmly believes that biofuels must become a part of our transport fuel mix. So he decided to go around the world in a record time in a revolutionary, noisy, 24-meter, wave-piercing, high-tech triple catamaran with a maximum speed of 45 knots (90 kms). The fuel for the boat may come from very different sources: butter, possums, canola oil, tuna, or even human fat derived by liposuction. “Bio-fuel is not a panacea to transport energy issues but it can play a wider role in starting this journey towards sustainability,” says Bethune. “Biofuels are about countries utilising their resources as best they can.

Text by Jules Marshall