When people think of alternative fuels for their cars, we doubt that coffee beans make the list. Yet a team of wacky inventors from the BBC1 science programme "Bang Goes The Theory" have managed to create a vehicle runs solely on gas produced by espresso roasted coffee granules!
Nicknamed Car-puccino, this 1988 VW Scirocco that looks like a bit like the Marty Mcfly's time-travelling DeLorean DMC-12 from the 'Back to the Future' trilogy, has been heavily modified to us coffee granules to power the engine.
So how does it work? According to the graph, the first stage involves heating the coffee granules with charcoal until the beans break down into cool hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
The gas is then fed into a radiator to chill down before it is filtered out in the boot. The purified gas is then led through a rooftop pipe into the engine where it burns and powers the car.
Nick Watson, producer of Bang Goes The Theory, said: '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.'
But even though the Car-puccino is full of beans, it sure won't please any bean counters with an estimated average consumption of 1 kilo / 2.2 pounds of ground coffee for every 4.8km / 3 miles (or about 56 espressos per mile).
The BBC1 team said that it is planning to cover a distance of 210 miles between Manchester and London using only coffee beans.
According to Daily Mail's calculations, "the journey will use about 70 kilos of ground coffee which, at supermarket prices of between £13 and £26 a kilo depending on brand and quality, will cost between £910 and £1,820, or between 25 and 50 times the £36 cost of petrol for the journey."
So now you know why coffee beans don't make the list with alternative fuels.
Via: Daily Mail / BBC1
14 Comments:
Starbucks approved!
Wait. Haven't the Sciroccos rusted away decades ago? Several people I knew had these coupe KdF Golf-based contraptions and you could literally hear them rust as they stood.
Then again, the legend says that only Italian and French cars rust; German ones never do. Yeah, right. Try restoring a well-rusted BMW E9; you'll have to pimp your wife and daughter to raise the money to take the rot away and rebuild the bodywork.
It seems to be the trade-off for going green; Cost.
Coffee beans can power a car and it's green too. That's all fine and dandy, but overcoming the cost, transportation, and the weight of the beans is something that cannot be overlooked. Thus, despite what the greens will say, coffee beans are not economically sound enough to be a green fuel of the future.
My only question is, why didn't they use a Suzuki Cappucino for something like this? Too obvious?
BBC?
taxpayers' money at work?
...nice...
--JORGE
Ok this thing has proven to be uneconomical but the kewl thing is "its different" and many many inventions have spurred other inventors minds to create new things. so there may be a small payoff in years to come !
..'It seems to be the trade-off for going green; Cost.'
this still isn't 'Green' cus u still need to use charcoal to cook the beans.....its like saying a steam train engine is 'Green'
Useless, try burning grass go high in the sky weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Some carscoop on a car-puccino.
Hey hey hey...i found a way to run my car on my fart after consuming a Mc Donalds large. and there's some left for my lawn mower too.
Lol 56 espressos per mile, thats gold!
U could honestly just buy 56 cups of coffee per mile and get 8 groups of 7 crack heads give them 1 cuppa per mile each and get them to just push it at a steady 10-15kph alternating every 200m...
At the cafe
Guy: One cuppuccino special...
Staff: Sir, please pay before helping yourself at the car-puccino outside...
Guy walk out of cafe...
...and stare at the white 1988 VW Scirocco...he spotted a label by the door:
"Dear customer, follow these steps to get your cuppuccino special
Step 1: place your cup on the road (just below the tip of the exhaust).
Step 2: Go to Driver side (open door) and shift the automatic gearstick ("D" stronger, "N" strong, "R" mild > + more sugar, - less sugar)
Step 3: Depress accelerator...and voila your cuppuccino special is ready...Enjoy!
whoa..at last i seen it runs on coffee.. :)
before this it runs on gas wood chips :) :) :)
if someday when the world fuel storage gone empty we will need this kinda thingy to go to work.
you all dont believe ar? so see this link:
http://gas2.org/2008/05/13/run-your-car-on-wood-no-joke/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi7Yf8-sAxM
Quote:"Wait. Haven't the Sciroccos rusted away decades ago? Several people I knew had these coupe KdF Golf-based contraptions and you could literally hear them rust as they stood."
I use a 1987 Scirocco Scala 1.8 to travel 90 miles a day to work and back. It also took a workmate and myself to Gibraltar and back 2 years ago with a trailer in tow in under 10 days (4000 miles). These cars are fantastic and mine has so far helped me to raise several thousand for charity :-)
www.scirocco2morocco.blogspot.com
Not quite the rot box that Anonymous would have you all believe!.
Andy.
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