Gizmodo Australia » biodiesel

Coffee-Fueled Car Is Surprisingly Practical

Gizmodo US Edition — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:30:00 +0000

Turns out you can make biofuel from just about any oily plant product. Corn may be the standard, but coffee works at least as well, and it makes your car smell like a Starbucks!

AU: Old news.

Experts say it takes about 5-7 kg of coffee grounds to get one liter of biofuel, which with a medium-sized production would yield a cost of about $US1 per gallon. Plus, it’s already used: you can just walk around to your local coffeeshops and convenience stores and stock up the same way you would on vegetable oil.

Creating fuel from the grounds uses the same procedure as other biodiesels, transesterification, which is sort of complicated to explain but fairly inexpensive. The US estimates we consume over 7 tons of coffee each year, which would yield about 340 million gallons of biodiesel.

But mostly, a subtle coffee scent might overcome the significantly less savory odors currently dominating my car. [The Economist]

Future Cars, Like Their Owners, Will Run On Coffee?

Nick Broughall — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 03:13:28 +0000

Forget electric cars – let’s start pumping our money into coffee technology. Apparently scientists in Nevada have discovered that ground coffee contains roughly the same amount of oil as other biofuels. What’s more, it has those kinds of levels even after its been used to make that sweet cup of java that gets you going in the morning. Plus, as an added bonus, the resulting biodiesel actually smells like coffee, meaning rather than noxious petrol fumes, streets will smell like a freshly brewed pot of liquid caffeine. I don’t know about you guys, but that’s the world I want to be living in.

[Physorg via Treehugger]

Rainforest Fungus Makes Biodiesel, Not Soup

Kit Eaton — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 08:04:03 +0000

Environmentalists who say we shouldn’t cut down the rainforest as it harbours potentially useful lifeforms are finally right: there’s an amazing fungus that can produce biodiesel better than any current methods. Gliocladium roseum was found in the Patagonian rainforest, as a by-product of antibiotics experiments. The scientists were amazed that the fungus was putting out a mist of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon derivatives. “This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances,” according to one professor, who added that G.roseum can even make fuels from cellulose. With a little genetic tweaking, the team think it’s possible the fungus could become an important green fuel source. [Physorg]

Greener Skies: Quiet, Fuel-Efficient Airplanes Race in NASA Challenge

Adrian Covert — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:40:00 +0000

This past weekend, a NASA-sanctioned 400-mile (643km) “personal air vehicle” race was held in Santa Rosa, CA, to see who had created the quietest, most fuel-efficient plane that’s still reasonably fast. Those involved hope pushing these ideas forward will make personal airplanes cost effective someday. These PAVs run as quiet as a pickup truck while averaging a fuel efficiency of 25 to 30 miles per gallon (10-13 km per litre). Four planes showed up for the challenge and US$100,000 in prize money was awarded, though the most intriguing craft of them all, a modded DA-20 that runs partially on biodiesel, was unable to compete because of a faulty sensor. In the end, the big winner was the Pipistrel Virus, a two-seater with tech-happy features such as three GPS modules, terrain visualization screen and a rocket-propelled parachute that deploys in the event of a mid-air collision. Here’s a look at all four contenders:

GSE Katana DA-20 Plane With Omnivore Biodiesel Engine

Awards Won: None

This modded Diamond Katana DA-20 plane was probably the most innovative and exciting plane in the challenge with its biodiesel capability, but due to a faulty inlet sensor, it was unable to compete. Designed by Greg and Geoff Stevenson and their aircraft engine company, GSE, the Omnivore only relies on biodiesel for auxiliary power during takeoff and landing. But the plan is to get it FAA certified step-by-step so that it relies more on the eco-friendly fuel. The engine also has an electric motor and fuel injection to help make the craft quieter and more fuel efficient. It was expected to win the Green Prize handily, which would have been awarded to any plane averaging over 30 mpg for the race, but none of the others could meet that requirement.

Pipistrel Virus

Awards Won: Safety Prize, Shortest Takeoff Distance, Quietest Cabin Noise, 400 Mile Race Winner, Best Angle of Climb

The Pipistrel Virus took home more awards than any other craft, but the team was still disappointed with their results, as it had performed better in some categories last year. The US$100k craft has a constant propeller speed switch that helps with fuel efficiency (28.8 MPG for the competition), as well as heavy sound dampening where it tied the Lambada motoglider for lowest cabin noise at 91.5 db. The plane flew 233 km per hour, and only required 280 metres for takeoff.

Pipistrel even flew out a team of engineers from Slovenia to install a new engine that was supposed to improve power and mileage, but it didn’t quite work out. What did work out was the super high-tech dashboard, normally found in much more expensive planes, with the aforementioned three GPS modules and a panel that can take map data and can digitally recreate the surrounding geography when visibility is poor.

UFM-13 Lambada

Awards Won: Lowest Community Noise, Quietest LSA, Lowest Cabin Noise

Running as quietly as a pickup truck, the sexily named UFM-13 Lambada motoglider took home prizes for having the lowest community noise, at 62dB. According to team leader John Dunham, the plane would have also won the Best Glide Ratio award—this measures the amount a plane can move forward once it cuts power and eases back towards the ground, and the UFM-13 is apparently able to glide at a similar rate as a feather—but miscalculations due to human error prevented that from happening. Few mods were made to the plane itself, other than noise dampening measures. For the challenge, it managed to fly 210 kph, averaged 26.5 mpg and required 308 metres for takeoff.

Flight Design CT

Awards Won: Best Glide Ratio

Spearheaded by freelance aircraft mechanic Bob Bashim, this Flight Design CT didn’t have the resources of some of the other teams, but managed to snag the Best Glide Ratio prize. Bashim had some neat ideas to reduce noise and fuel consumption, including the use of a motorcycle muffler on his plane. Other measures taken for the challenge include adding noise dampening panels around the engine, and removing all unnecessary weight around the plane.

— — —

Though most of the participants started working on this only 6 weeks ago, they are already looking forward to next year, with more time to work on their planes. Pipistrel’s team in particular is interested in the idea of shorter takeoff lengths, where people could have their own runways, and wouldn’t have to use a regional airport to hit the skies. For more information on the challenge, check out the homepage of the [CAFE Foundation].

Deep fry the sky: First 100% biodiesel jet flight

Seamus Byrne — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 22:30:40 +0000

Have you been buying carbon offsets for your air travel yet? Well done to that one person up the back. We all know flight is not very friendly to the environment, but living down under makes it a necessary evil to go ANYWHERE else (unless you have a few months to kick back on the QE2?)

Last week Green Flight International and Biodiesel Solutions used their powers combined to launch the first ever 100% biodiesel jet flight. Tests were conducted up to 17,000 feet in a Czech-made aircraft that has been rated to run on various fuels, including heating oil. After a few tests on a cocktail of biodiesel and conventional jet fuel, they were happy to go for broke and showed the world you can fly a plane and leave the sweet smell of hot chips in your wake. [Green Flight International via Treehugger]

Die Bike Runs on Biodiesel, Capable of 130 mph (Video)

Addy Dugdale — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 08:52:20 +0000

This is Die Bike, a biodiesel motorcycle that has been built from a car engine and a bike body by an Oakland collective called The Crucible. A recent test-drive got the eco-bike up to 130 mph, but its creators are hoping that, with a bit of modification, their baby will hit 160 mph on the Bonneville Flats next month and break some records in the process.

Creator Michael Sturtz started off with a BMW motorbike and a Beemer high-performance car engine only available in Europe (which shut down for four days after its computer thought it had been stolen, so Sturtz had to beg BMW for the security codes.) Its retro look comes from having engine and chassis wrapped in 3/4 aluminum fairing.

Die Bike cost $20,000 and took six months to build. As well as running on biodiesel, it can take both diesel and straight vegetable oil (SVO). Sturtz, who is Founder and Executive Director of The Crucible, is hoping that his creation will break the existing diesel motorcycle world record, as well as establishing new land speed classes for both bio-diesel and straight veggie oil. [Popular Science via CNN]

Make Biodiesel Yourself With Home Processing Plant

Seamus Byrne — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:00:27 +0000

Etruk has devised a method to produce biodiesel within the comfort of your own home, using their Home Biodiesel Processing Plant. The unit utilises biological sources such as vegetable oil to produce the sustainable energy source. The benefits of making biodiesel at home primarily lie in the sustainability of the fuel source and the monetary savings it confers.The energy produced is better for the environment, producing up to 60% less CO2 than standard petrol, whilst being biodegradable. But we are not too sure having such units within homes is such a good idea in terms of safety; last time we checked fuel was quite flammable. Eturk offer to fully train people on the correct procedure to ensure safety. We are sceptical of the viability of the device, it is a semi-good idea, but until the website is up and running, or someone trials it, we shall have to reserve our judgment. Alternatively, if anyone can figure out how to trap our blogger gas so it can be transferred to our vehicles, then we would be listening upright and with considerably more restraint on our anuses. [Red Ferret]