Bender Bending Rodriguez is, true to his name, a bender. He can bend metal. It’s why he was built. Also true to his name, Bender is an alcoholic, as are all robots in the future. It turns out that booze helps keep robots’ fuel cells charged, and they have to keep on drinking all day in order to prevent powering down. If they drink too much, they get drunk. If they drink too little … they also get drunk. The future is a world of crazed, lazy, drunken robots. Either stay indoors, or live like it’s Carnival in Rio.
There are no alcohol-fueled robots yet, but using alcohol as fuel is a very real thing. In New Zealand, some scientists have pioneered something they are referring to as “brewtroleum,” which uses the excess yeast and grain left over from the beer brewing process and converting it into an ultra-refined ethanol (which, sadly, must be blended with actual gasoline — it’s more of a supplement). It’s not exactly a clean-burning alternative to ordinary oil-based petroleum, but it’s cleaner to manufacture.