Lighting Our Fires Weird New Fuels
- Author: Katrina Yulo
- Posted on: Thursday July 9, 2009 at 11:00 AM
- Filed under: environment, exclusive
With fossil fuels growing scarce, scientists and environmentalists alike are scrambling to find alternative sources of energy to power our everyday mode of transportation: le automobile. When we say scrambling, we mean it. They're testing all sorts of stuff, from the unimaginable to the the ones that have got us scratching our heads thinking, "Why the heck didn't I think of that?"
CHOCOLATE
Well, this just makes us love chocolate even more. Brainacs from the University of Warwick in Britain have been taking bad batches of chocolate from world-famous chocolatier Cadbury and turning it into biodiesel for the Formula 3 racecar they've built. Pretty sweet ride, we say.
COFFEE GRINDS
Researchers have found a way to wake up engines with coffee grinds. Way to jumpstart your car's day. Good news for the environment too, the stuff takes up so much space in landfills and takes FOREVER to biodegrade. The oily stuff found in the grinds makes it a prime candidate for biofuel. Gotta hand it to the Germans and the Swiss.
CONFISCATED BOOZE
Drop it, don't chug it. Swedish authorities are packing a one-two punch with this fuel source, enforcing the law and saving the environment. Confiscated (smuggled) booze is being used to create a biogas for all sorts of vehicles, putting a totally new spin on drunk driving.
USED DIAPERS
Sure, it sounds nasty, but scientists in Quebec have discovered a way to convert the plastics, resins, fibers and baby excrement found in diapers into a really kick-ass diesel. This beats waiting 100 years for all that doody to decompose in landfill.
CHICKEN FEATHERS
This gave us something to cluck about. Over six billion pounds of feathers are disposed of every year in the US (meaning lots of chicken nuggets, fried chicken, chicken fingers...you get the idea), so the people at the University of Delaware decided to put all that waste to good use. They've found a way to store hydrogen in carbonized (sounds like a superpower) feathers.
Some of these are still in the works, but it's only a matter of time before we're all running on cool stuff. Are you as revved up about these fuels as we are?
via inhabitat , Hippy Shopper, The Daily Green
additional photo cred: ScrapeTV and Psychology Today
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COMMENTS
“ how crazy awesome would it be if this stuff became main-stream in our lifetime? the world is changing... ”
“ i love chocolate and coffee :) ”
