Gizmodo Australia » petrol

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]

Gas Gripper Rests Your Forearm Muscles At the Pump

Jason Chen — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:45:00 +0000

It’s rare to find a pump that doesn’t have a latch to lock into the “on” position, but if you find one, the Gas Gripper will keep you from overexerting your forearms while filling up.

Although we spend most of our day atrophying our already pathetic muscles, we can still manage to keep that lever in place while filling up. But seniors and people with disabilities may find this simple gadget incredibly useful, and $US4.98 (for two) is a cheap price to pay for convenience.

It’s static resistant and the site says it won’t interfere with the automatic safety shutoff when your tank is full. Which means no gas hose fights. Darn. [Taylor Gifts via Nerd Approved]

Gas Pump Blue Screen of Death is Poo Poo Inducing

Jason Chen — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:00:00 +0000

Seeing a Windows blue screen of death is fine, if annoying, if you’re just balancing your chequebook, but what if you see it in more…precarious situations? Like when you’re pumping gas? Reader Dave saw this at a San Diego Shell station, after which he bravely continued filling up—but not without hiding his face behind his arm to shield himself from the inevitable gas station explosions of death. You’re a ballsy man, Dave. See the close up after the jump. [Thanks Dave!]

iPhone’s Gas Cubby Car Care Tracker Is Anal So You Don’t Have To Be

Jason Chen — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:00:00 +0000

We played with Gas Cubby, the car maintenance tracking tool for iPhone, and can say that the $US5 is a pretty low price to pay if you really want to keep your ride in good condition. Among its many hardcore features are petrol price fill-up tracking and graphing, service tracking and data (insurance, VIN) storage. We all know that we’re supposed to get and document regular service on our cars, but who the hell remembers? By tracking your petrol purchases (which you get much more frequently), Gas Cubby will remind you of when those tires need rotating or when filters need replacement. Pretty damn good for $US5, I’d say. [Gas Cubby]

Google’s Petrol Price Tracker Gadget For iGoogle Tells You Where To Fill Up

Nick Broughall — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:12:12 +0000

Google gets it. They understand. While they’re thinking about starting their own countries and creating a whole new mobile platform (and rolling around on rollerblades while doing it), they understand that regular folk are struggling, especially at the petrol pump.

That’s why they’ve launched a gadget for iGoogle which tells you the price of any petrol station in Australia. They update the information twice daily – so the information is going to be fairly accurate – and you can search either by suburb, price or brand.

You can download the gadget for your iGoogle homepage here. It’s a free download, so there isn’t any reason why you shouldn’t use it, unless of course you prefer to walk or catch public transport. In which case – kudos to you for being better than the rest of us…

[Google Australia Blog via Lifehacker]

New Tech Converts Heat into Electricity, Saves You Petrol

Adam Frucci — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Furukawa, a Tokyo-based tech company, has developed a thermoelectric conversion material that’s said to be able to boost the fuel efficiency of cars by 2% by converting about 7% of exhaust heat into electricity. Unlike conventional thermoelectric conversion materials, which warm up as a whole when one side is exposed to heat, this new material generates energy via the difference in temperature between its two sides. Apparently, that makes it much more efficient. They’re currently working to improve the system, but they hope to have it ready for mass production by 2011, at which point that 2% will solve the petrol crisis single-handedly. Just hang in there for a few more years! [Nikkei via CrunchGear]

Fuel Checker Gizmo Warns if You’re About to Screw Up Your Engine

Kit Eaton — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:22:00 +0000

Pumping gas into a diesel engine, or vice versa, is a big no-no that may well screw up your engine. We all know that, don’t we? But for those, uh, “fuel-type challenged” people out there that get it wrong, there’s this new Fuel Checker gizmo. You install it inside your filler flap, and touch the pump nozzle to it before filling up: it’ll check the type and flash green for go, and red for no. No idea how it works, but it comes in gasoline or diesel versions. Or you could, you know… read the label on the pump and double check the colour of the nozzle you’re holding, and save yourself US$40.

AU: Seriously? I drive a diesel, and I’ve never ever ever come close to putting unleaded in the tank. Is this a common occurrence?

[Red Ferret]

Scientists Create Bacteria That Poops Out Petrol

Nick Broughall — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:40:23 +0000

If Hollywood has taught us anything at all, it’s that playing around with DNA leads to disaster. Wonderful, entertaining disaster. In the real world, things aren’t so clear cut, but the prospect of creating super-bugs that will either turn humans into zombies or just kill us outright hasn’t stopped some Silicon Valley entrepreneurs from LS9 from creating a bacteria that essentially just shits crude oil.

The bacteria start out as either industrial yeast or nonpathogenic strains of E. coli. They then have a little bit of DNA-grade surgery done to them, before being fed “feedstock” which is essentially any substance that can be broken down to sugars, like wheat, corn or woodchips. The bacteria have a mad party where they eat and drink too much, then spend the following day on a single-cell organism-sized toilet where they poop out crude oil, which is collected by people in white suits and sold for $150 a barrel. Or something like that, anyway.

The biggest problem with the whole setup (aside from the possibility of
creating super-smart bugs that prefer the taste of human flesh to
woodchips) is that the company behind the whole setup, LS9, doesn’t
know if they can mass produce the fuel. At the moment, the most they
can do is the equivalent of a barrel a week from a setup that takes up
40 square feet. To make enough for America’s gluttony for petrol, you’d
need an area as large as Chicago to be producing it.

It’s still a ray of hope for everybody with a pain in their back pocket
every time they stop at a bowser, though, so hopefully this will
develop enough to help the fuel crisis, and not kill us all in the
process.

[Times Online – Thanks Crowyourboat*!)

Dealzmodo: Microsoft Office Is Like… Putting Petrol In Your Tank?

Nick Broughall — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:21:02 +0000

Fuel’s expensive. I paid $1.80 per litre for diesel the other day – it was like mugging my own wallet. The only thing that left me with that same feeling of being financially raped was when I first held the LG Prada phone – and that didn’t even cost me any money.

Another thing that’s quite expensive is Microsoft Office, especially when you look at Google Docs and Open Office. To help ease the financial burden that Microsoft’s software package will create, they’ve decided to offer customers a $40 fuel voucher for anyone who purchases pretty much any of their Office suites.

The offer is valid for boxed copies purchased from May 1st 2008 up to 31st July 2008, and the fuel voucher is a StarCash Card redeemable at any Caltex or
Ampol outlet, where EFTPOS facilities are available and operational. To get your voucher, you just need to redeem it by going here.

[Microsoft - Thanks Jase!]

1930s Steam Cooker Uses Car Exhaust To Cook For, Poison Your Family

Gizmodo US Edition — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:30:00 +0000

Before the advent of the drive-through, families on road trips were stumped by the dilemma of how to have a hot meal ready at any time during their travels. But never fear, 1930s road warrior — hook up this automatic food cooking contraption to your exhaust pipe and your car will prepare your dinners for you!

The cooker, meant to be mounted on the rear bumper, contains a steam pressure kettle that gets heated by aromatic, flavourful hot exhaust. An hour’s drive will yield you thoroughly cooked meats and vegetables, enveloped in the essence of leaded gasoline. Yum! [Modern Mechanix via Boing Boing]