If you have read my book ‘Slingshot’, perhaps you noticed the striking similarity between a scenario I presented in the book and the story of my last blog. I would like to elaborate on this exciting resemblance here.
In my last post, I drew your attention to the seemingly absurd partnership between Ford Motor Company and H.J. Heinz – the maker of ketchup. But this union isn’t that crazy after all, in fact it may be visionary: “Ford announced that it and Heinz have made a good bit of progress, as they've worked to turn the latter's tomato waste into the former's bioplastics. Ford says that tomato skins, for example, may ultimately be used to create plastic for wiring brackets, panels, or storage bins” (Yahoo.com auto news)
And to ponder the possibilities further, here is the related scenario I presented in my book: What would you say, if you were a leading fast-food company, at the prospect of having the combination of powerful sensory branding, a massive environmentally friendly image boost and the ability to turn waste into a complementary offering, all in one? Does this seem too good to be viable? Well, it may not be as far-fetched as you may think.
Vegetable oil is a viable (though not yet practical) source of automobile fuel. A man named Joshua Tickell gained visibility for its use in 1997, when he drove his Veggie Van across the U.S. using leftover vegetable oil from Kentucky Fried Chicken and other fast-food chains. Vegetable oil can be used in converted diesel engines.
In America alone, there are 18 billion liters (approximately 4.5 billion gallons) of waste vegetable oil generated every year by restaurants. So here is the opportunity: Instead of removing or recycling this waste, why not offer an eco-friendly fuel source via add-on gas stations at fast food outlets? The retail infrastructure is already in place, and this way motorists and cars can both tank up together. And here is the kicker: Exhaust from a car burning vegetable oil gives off an irresistible French fry smell! Thus, our highly infatuating, lifestyle enriching scenario is complete.
As a side note, evidently even the future King of England got a whiff of this idea: It was reported that his royal Jaguar runs solely on cooking oil.
