Nice car, but the power is shit..

[Gob]

A car powered by methane gas has been created by a team of British engineers.

The vehicle named the 'Bio-Bug' is run reliably on biogas, which is produced from human waste at sewage works across the country.

Excrement flushed down the toilets of just 70 homes is enough to power the pioneering VW Beetle car for 10,000 miles - the equivalent of one average motoring year.

This conversion technology has been used in the past but the Bio-Bug is Britain's first car to run on methane gas without its performance being reduced.


Full speed ahead: The converted Beetle car that runs on methane gas that is a by-product of treating human waste

The vehicle's improved reliability means that its makers believe it can 'blow away' electric cars and pave the way for a green motoring revolution.

Mohammed Saddiq, of sustainable energy firm GENeco, which developed the prototype promised that drivers 'won't know the difference'.

He said: 'Previously the gas hasn't been clean enough to fuel motor vehicles without it affecting performance.

'However, through using the latest technology our Bio-Bug drives like any conventional car and what's more it uses sustainable fuel.
'We thought it would be appropriate that the poo-powered car should be the classic VW Beetle Bug because bugs naturally breakdown waste at sewage works to start the treatment process which goes on to produce the energy.

'At the moment we are using waste flushed down the toilets in homes but it won't be long before the energy will also be generated through the treatment of food waste.

'If you were to drive the car you wouldn't know it was powered by biogas as it performs just like any conventional car. It is probably the most sustainable car around.'

The Bio-Bug is a conventional 2 litre VW Beetle convertible, which has been modified to run on both conventional fuel and compressed methane gas.

The car, which has a top speed of 114mph, is started using unleaded petrol but automatically switches to methane when the engine is 'up to temperature'.

If the methane tank runs out the Bio-Bug reverts back to petrol.

Around 18 million cubic metres of biogas is produced from human waste every year at Wessex Water's sewage treatment works in Avonmouth, Bristol.

The gas is generated through anaerobic digestion - where bugs which are starved of oxygen break down biodegradable material to produce methane.

However, before the gas can be used to power vehicles it must undergo 'biogas upgrading' where carbon dioxide is removed to improve performance.

The Bio-Bug does 5.3 miles per cubic metre of biogas, which means that just one sewage works could power 95,400,000 miles per year saving 19,000 tonnes of CO2.

Lord Rupert Redesdale, chairman of The Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association, believes that the Bio-Bug could prove to be the future of green motoring.

He said: 'This is a very exciting and forward-thinking project demonstrating the myriad benefits of anaerobic digestion.

'Biomethane cars could be just as important as electric cars, and the water regulator Ofwat should promote the generation of as much biogas as possible through sewage works in the fight against climate change.'

GENeco, which is a sustainable energy company owned by Wessex Water, plans to convert its fleet of vehicles if the Bio-Bug trial proves to be successful.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z0vmLU79Jo

[The Hen]

I'd drive a poo-powered car if the power was available. It would be great to re-use shit instead of flushing it.

When it's warming up, does it smell like a fart?

[dales]

Blow me away

[Gob]

Here's the answer to the fart powered car, the sugar powered car..

Holden is about to release a Commodore that runs on up to 85 per cent ethanol. But will consumers buy it?



In little more than a month's time, a fresh-faced Holden Commodore will slip into showrooms and challenge the way we think.

For a start, it will be billed as the most environmentally friendly Commodore yet, producing far fewer emissions — small print attached — than even the all-new 3.0-litre V6 engine unveiled with much fanfare late last year. It will also ask us to reassess what we put into the fuel tank, for this will be a large family car with the potential to burn through less petrol than any other model before it.

Holden will soon fit the nation's best-selling car with what it calls a flex-fuel engine, capable of running on anything from 100 per cent petrol right up to E85, a shandy of 15 per cent petrol and 85 per cent ethanol.

Its bold move with the Commodore will usher in the age of flex-fuel cars, capable of drawing on a source of sustainable fuel to help owners make the most of dwindling oil supplies. By 2020, the maker wants to have a flex-fuel option for almost every model it sells in Australia.

Even better, the flex-fuel engine won't cost customers any more money to buy.

Australia, and Holden for that matter, are no strangers to ethanol. For some of us, it's been an unconscious part of our regular routine of filling up the family car with cheaper E10-blended petrol.

Holden has even shown several E85-compatible vehicles under the guise of concept cars, including the V8-engined Sportwagon (passed off as a US-only export) and the Coupe 60 (billed as Holden's 60th anniversary present to Australia). The maker also sold ethanol-friendly versions of the Commodore to Brazil as part of a former export program that helped Holden hone its skills.

Holden is keeping its powder dry, holding back most details about the rollout of the new engine until it arrives some time next month as part of a mid-life spritz for the Commodore.

But we're told it will be standard kit, just like the base-model Commodore's cloth seats, stability control and electric windows. Other than the "Ecoline" badge denoting Holden's commitment to more fuel-efficient motoring, most buyers probably won't even pick that the car is any different until they see the "E85" sticker on the fuel-filler cap.

And it will be entirely up to buyers to decide if, and when, they want to use E85, as the Commodore will still be capable of running on normal unleaded fuel.

More

[Crackpot]

E85 is new there? Most new domestics over here could run E85 for the past 5 years.

[dales]

Flex-fuel has been a bust here.

[Crackpot]

Yep, at least so far. Ethanol from corn is a losing game.