(Photo by Gab Pili on Unsplash)
Coffee is fantastic when you need something to help you wake up or become more alert- it’s basically my fuel for instant human! Why can’t the ingredients that make up the drink also be used to power our cars too?
Martin Bacon may have had the same thought when the Brit looked into a system that used a charcoal stove, a modified gasoline engine capable of running hydrogen and a coffee bean byproduct. His invention was a system that used a boiler that transformed the coffee byproduct into a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, with the latter being fed into the motor. The result was a modified Ford P100 pick-up that was capable of hitting 65 miles per hour in tests.
Use algae
Due to it being a smelly green pond substance algae is far from the most appealing potential fuel source on our list. However, it has plenty of promise as an alternative fuel- there’s so much of it to be found in the sea, and it can also be grown in a tank very easily!
You can create a number of biofuels once you’ve got a hold of some algae. This is because the oil harvested from algae cells can be mixed together with other chemicals so to form a source of biodiesel.
Use air
Questions can be raised about how air can make for an alternative fuel source considering the fact it can’t be felt when you’re walking. However, pop your hand out of a window when travelling at 70mph and you will realise that we’re onto something.
The solution is compressed air as a fuel source. Indian car company Tata Motors has actually attempted this, whereby a tank that’s full of compressed carbon dioxide sprays out air when functioning. This air will drive a tiny piston engine, which results in a crankshaft being turned to drive the wheels of a lightweight car.
Out of all of these, to me coffee seems like the most plausible fuel but with another 23 years to perfect alternative fuels before they become an essential it’s anybodies guess what we’ll actually be filling our cars with!
