NPR says that NASA has not made any new Plutonium-238 since the 1980s, instead opting to borrow from Mother Russia. And because they use up to 5kg of the material each year, it would take eight years worth of production to begin satisfying demand again. But the requested $US30 million from Congress is only a start — the full Plutonium-238 production program could cost up to $US150 million.

Because it gets so cold in deep space (reaching absolute zero), spacecraft travelling out that far need a fuel generating a lot of heat, so they can convert that energy to electricity. Plutonium-238 naturally generates a serious amount of heat as it goes through radioactive decay, so it’s often the fuel of choice for these NASA adventures, such as voyages to Saturn and beyond.

According to a Johns Hopkins planetary scientist, NASA has enough Plutonium left to fuel the next Mars Rover mission, and maybe enough to test out some new power generators. After that, they need more scratch for more fuel. [NPR via MIT Tech Review]

Paul Patone is an inventor who created a perfectly working engine that runs on 80% Mountain Dew 25 years ago. That was before he was framed by corrupt Utah officials and businesscrooks, after he refused to sell his patents.

His engine is called the GEET—short for Global Environmental Energy Technology—Fuel Processor. His system modifies any engine to run on 20-25% regular gas, from diesel engines to a jet turbine. The rest of the mix could be any soda:

I haven’t invented the engine; all I’ve invented is the fuel delivery system. And this system will fit a gas engine, a diesel engine, a furnace, a boiler, it will fit anything including jet turbine. You need to have about 20, 25 percent hydrocarbon. Then you can add the Mountain Dew to it or whatever you want to add.

When he tried to bring his invention into the mainstream, corrupted Utah’s officials and businessmen decided they wanted to profit on his invention, so they tried to force him to sell the technology. He refused. As a result, they framed him for securities fraud, declared him insane, and put him in the mental ward at the Utah State Hospital. This abuse happened in March 2006. Luckily, the guy was finally freed this May, and now he can pursue his dream of pushing the world forward one pop soda engine at a time. [KRQE via Gas2]

Their “carnivorous robot” prototypes are simple in concept, if not execution: each gadget, be it a lamp, clock, or heretofore unnamed generic killing device, powers itself with special fuel cells that are able to produce electricity by processing the bodies of flies, and in one case, mice.

Auger and Loizeau’s unsettling apparati, including the the sticky conveyor belt clock above, sound an awful lot like the basement experiments of a troubled tween chemistry enthusiast. In reality, and as evidenced by the devices’ creative construction and execution, the pair are designers, and the carnivorous robots are pieces of art, not masked cries for help. [New Scientist via Hackaday via Engadget]

The problem? Nobody makes nukes anymore.

Deep space probes beyond Jupiter can’t use solar power because they’re too far from the sun. So they rely on a certain type of plutonium, plutonium-238. It powers these spacecraft with the heat of its natural decay. But plutonium-238 isn’t found in nature; it’s a byproduct of nuclear weaponry.

So where can NASA turn to in order to get the 11lbs of plutonium it needs each year? Fortunately, the Department of Energy has come to the rescue and decided to spend the $US150 million or so it would take to re-start production. Man, it feels like the Cold War all over again. [Yahoo]

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]

According to Worldchanging, the City of Oslo will convert the sewage to biomethane, then get that methane working as bus fuel. Two sewage plants in Oslo will be adapted to support the infrastructure and the 80 buses will require minor modifications.

The Oslo Sewage Bus trial is expected to begin in September, and if successful, all 400 Oslo buses will be converted.Putting aside initial costs, the biomethane is expected to be about €0.40 cheaper per litre, and each bus will save about 40 tons of carbon dioxide every year. [Worldchanging via Earth First via Slashdot]

Representative Massa made the 480km NY to DC trip in a car that has a maximum range of 320km. How? By enlisting the help of two SUVs to tow two fuel cell cars while not in use.

Massa drove one fuel cell car while a hybrid SUV [Chevy Tahoe] towing an additional SUV followed along. Once he got half way, he switched to new fuel cell car [which I assume was towed to the half way point sometime earlier so that it would be waiting for the environmentally-conscious congressman]. The empty fuel cell was then towed back by the first SUV. As he continued on his journey, the second SUV followed. Once Massa arrived in DC, the second SUV then towed the second fuel cell car back to NY.

So basically, one SUV traveled 480km and one SUV traveled 960km for a total of 1600km on a 480km trip. That’s not even counting the mileage on the fuel cell car. Nice work there Captain Planet. [Famous DC via Boing Boing]

The “less fuel” route picks the most gas-efficient way to get from A to B. It also gives you the usual eco-nag software features of smarter driving tips, fuel usage tracking, and online access–in case you want to look at your auto habits outside of your car.

There’s a lot of other efficient driving software out there, but if you already have a nüvi, ecoRoute comes free.

ecoRoute™ from Garmin® Helps Drivers Save Gas and Money
Through Fuel-Efficient Paths, Smarter Driving Habits

LAS VEGAS, Nev./January 7, 2009/Business Wire — Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today introduced ecoRoute, a free software update that helps drivers conserve money and fuel, easing growing pressures on personal budgets and the environment. ecoRoute, which suggests fuel-efficient navigation, was announced in conjunction with the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, and will be on display at the Garmin booth (South Hall 4, #35832).

“Many of the biggest challenges currently facing people around the world involve the economy and the environment,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “Using ecoRoute on your Garmin nüvi® helps you be a smarter driver at a time when everyone is trying to make their paychecks and their gas tanks go the extra mile. As the global leader in satellite navigation, we embrace the opportunity to be the leader in fuel-efficient, eco-friendly navigation.”

In addition to “faster time” and “shorter distance” for route preference, ecoRoute lets nüvi users choose “less fuel” as the best way to save gas and money. Through ecoRoute’s Fuel Report and Mileage Report, drivers can focus on their fuel conservation even when they’re not behind the wheel. Fuel Report tracks fuel usage over time, and Mileage Report monitors mileage and fuel usage on a per-trip basis. Drivers can customise their nüvi to fit their vehicle by accessing the “vehicle profile” under ecoRoute in the tools menu. There, you can enter your vehicle type and your car’s fuel economy. You can also find fuel-saving tips and enter the current price of gas in the ecoRoute menu to help nüvi better calculate your savings.

To find out if your nüvi is compatible with ecoRoute through a free, downloadable software update, go to www.garmin.com/ecoroute.

ecoRoute is the latest breakthrough from Garmin, which has spent 20 years using technology and innovation to enhance users’ lives, making Garmin a household name in the automotive, aviation, marine, wireless, outdoor and fitness industries. To learn more about ecoRoute and Garmin’s other products and services, go to www.garmin.com and www.garmin.blogs.com.

The reason they were using the jatropha plant is because it thrives in arid regions, and doesn’t require fertile land otherwise needed for forests or food farmland. Ideally, they could begin farming the plant in the middle of the Australian desert, although whether they could be mass-produced is still being debated.

Still, it’s great to see an airline taking a real pro-active approach to the problem they’re facing with fuel – ultimately, fossil fuels are destined to run out, so the further we can stretch them and the quicker we can come up with an alternative, the better.

[The Register]

Part of the gaff was, of course, due to that fact that there are just 60 hydrogen stations in the U.S., and only two of those are open to the public “without prior arrangement,” says Reuters. Nevertheless, event promoter Catherine Dunwoody, executive director of the California Fuel Cell Partnership (a major tour supporter), was optimistic about hydrogen’s chances.

“There’s a hunger out there for clean, safe vehicles,” Brubaker said. “The common refrain everywhere we went was ‘Where do we get these cars.’” As a personal aside, I, too, would be interested in such a venture, especially if it meant large swaths of my morning commute meant hopping on the back of a truck, and having someone else do the driving for me.

More seriously, hydrogen as a major fuel source is pretty much nowhere near becoming mainstream. As the article notes, big wig auto makers like Honda and General Motors only have plans to test a handful of hydrogen vehicles this year and next in select markets.

A best case scenario out of the car industry has only 2 million hydrogen-powered electric vehicles on the roads by 2020.

At least there was some diversity on this cross-country trip: Cars were provided by Honda, GM, Toyota Motor Corp, Ford Motor Co, BMW AG, Daimler AG, Hyundai Motor Co, Nissan Motor Co, and Volkswagen AG. No word on those flat beds. [Reuters]