Photos: One-of-a-kind powerboat

A side view of a one-of-a-kind powerboat called Earthrace, which is specially constructed to pierce through waves. The boat, shown here docked in San Francisco, is the star of a six-month promotional tour called the Earthrace Project, which is promoting the use of renewable fuels. The boat is powered solely with biodiesel, a fuel made with plants and animal fats that produces low emissions and does not burn environmentally damaging fossil fuels.

The four Earthrace crew members, who are from New Zealand, are docking in 30 cities. They've already been to New Zealand, Samoa, Vancouver, Hawaii, Seattle and San Francisco and they're headed through the Panama Canal, up the East Coast, then through the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes, and down the Mississippi into New Orleans.

In March 2007, the crew will race the Earthrace powerboat in an international competition to circumnavigate the globe at about 24,000 nautical miles, starting in Barbados. Earthrace, which will be the first official boat in the competition to be powered by biodiesel, aims to break the world record of 75 days.