Fill ‘er up gets a whole new meaning with coffee powered car
Posted by Lisa Carey
I’m the first to admit that a good jolt of java can help me get started on my day, and between my parents a pot of coffee disappears. Some people can’t live without their daily stop at Starbuck’s on their way to work. But with this coffee powered car, fill ‘er up may have a whole new meaning.
There are many alternatives out there for fueling our car. Our Honda Hybrid harnesses the power from the brake system to keep it eco-friendly. Other vehicles may use biodiesel fuels , lithium ion batteries and electricity. Others are exploring fuel alternatives from poo to goo to keep our cars running, reduce our dependency on foreign oils and reducing our carbon footprint, so the idea of using the carbon in coffee shouldn’t surprise us. According to The Economist (Mar 9 2010), “running a diesel engine on a plant-based fuel is hardly a new idea. One of the early demonstrations carried out by Rudolph Diesel, the German engineer who invented the engines at the end of the 19th century, operated on pure peanut oil.”
Fast facts about the Carpuccino
-fueled by using roasted coffee granules
- use a kilo of ground coffee for three miles or 56 espressos a mile
- a modified version of a Volkswagen Scirocco
-top speed of 60mph
-built by the BBC1 show Bang Goes The Theory to show that there are alternative fuels that could be used to power vehicles
This coffee powered vehicle will be displayed at the Big Bang Science Fair before its 210 mile “voyage” from Manchester to London. According to the show’s producer, Nick Watson, “Coffee, like wood or coal, has some carbon content so you can use it as a fuel. The coffee needs to be very dry and in pellets to allow the air to move through the pile of coffee as it burns. The brand doesn’t matter.”
Is this car really “green”? Well it definitely uses an alternative fuel source, but because the price of coffee is higher than the price of gas it will actually cost an anticipated 25 – 50 times more to make this 210 mile trip than it would on gasoline. It will also take an approximated 10 hours to drive 210 miles because of the need to stop every 30-45 miles to replenish the tank with coffee granules and every 60 miles or so to clean soot and tar from the coffee car’s filters.
So what do you think? What are some of your suggested alternative fuel sources? Which ones have you tried?
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3 Responses to “Fill ‘er up gets a whole new meaning with coffee powered car”
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Bondagebreaker says:
Well all i can say is unless your a glutton for punishment this is ridiculous . You may as well push the car the 21o miles . and save all the way around . Or just use caffine pills from the drug store .
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Ok Ill retract my earlier comment . Its a great idea once the bugs are worked out . I am sorry for my earlier comment about being ridicules . You guys do a terrific job researching alternative energy resources for for us all. Thanks for your hard work .
I’ll just drink my coffee and walk 30 miles a day.