Yamaha tests golf cart powered with cow dung
What can you do with cow dung? We can think of at least one green car option: transform it into biomethane and use the gas to power a golf cart. This is what the engineers at Yamaha in Katori, in Chiba Prefecture. Osaka Gas Co. provided the methane at a low cost. It was then stored in a special tank filled with activated carbon capable of absorbing the methane at relatively low pressure. The tank was developed by Osaka Gas Co. as an alternative to a high-pressure pump and tank. The town of Katori hosts the so-called "Biomass Town," where the use of cow dung is promoted as a locally produced, low-cost biofuel.[Source: Japan for Sustainability]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Carney 11:13AM (4/16/2009)
SPAM
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Carney 3:02PM (4/16/2009)
Thanks ABG.
For those wondering, I had responded to a spam post. I also clicked
on the exclamation point button to report it.
They're pretty easygoing and let a lot of stuff in the comments slide
(I'd say too much) but it looks like they do take comment spam
seriously.
Carney 2:38PM (4/16/2009)
Sewage can also be easily and cheaply made into clean-burning methanol, which is far superior to methane as a vehicle fuel for two reasons:
1) Unlike methane, methanol is a liquid at normal temperatures and pressures, and liquid fuels are much more convenient to transport, handle, and store;
and
2) Unlike methane, methanol is "backwards compatible" with gasoline in fully flex-fueled vehicles (FFVs), meaning that if an FFV is running low on methanol and needs to refuel, but isn't near a methanol station, it can just fill up on gasoline like a normal car. This makes transitioning from gasoline to methanol (or any alcohol fuel) achievable and practical like with no other alternative fuel. You can put the alternative compatible cars out there and people can still use them even without the full alternative infrastructure in place yet.
In fact you can mandate (and we should!) that all new cars be gasoline-alcohol flex-fueled without any real fuss or disruption, while mandating than all new cars be able to run on methane would me inconcievable.
Nor is methanol limited to sewage as a source; in fact methanol can be made from any biomass without exception, including crop residues, trash, weeds, and even otherwise problematic "black liquor" from paper mills. Still, nothing gets quite the attention of sewage.
The joke is that alcohol is one fuel that unlike oil will never be controlled by a cartel; any time someone tries to corner the market on sewage, some a--hole will be out there providing an alternate supply and undercutting the price.
So in future if someone tells you that methanol, alcohol in general, or FFVs are a sh--ty technology, you can respond, "yeah, isn't that great?"
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Epyx 2:42PM (4/16/2009)
Dont poo-poo this idea it as this crap is the future!
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GenWaylaid 10:32PM (4/16/2009)
Didn't they try this in "Thunderdome"? I suppose if you're expecting the financial crisis to degenerate into an apocalyptic wasteland ruled by road hooligans, biomethane would be a smart investment.
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ambush27 7:36PM (4/16/2009)
Methanol also costs $20 gallon.
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