Adventurers Andy Pag (34) and John Grimshaw (39) have just returned from an 8,500km drive from the UK to Timbuktu using Biodiesel made from waste chocolate.
The pair, from London and Dorset, delivered a biodiesel processing unit to MFC, a local charity. Independent analysts Carbon Aided estimate that the net effect of the expedition will actually save 15 tonnes of carbon emissions, making this the first-ever Carbon Negative expedition.
Along the way the boys had to battle with sandstorms and corrupt customs officers, and narrowly escaped a shoot-out with Al-Qaeda.
‘We’re not environmentalists at all,’ said Pag. ‘We just wanted to do a trip that wouldn’t have a detrimental effect on the environment, and the more we learnt about Biodiesel the more we thought that’s how we could do it.’