A Truck That Runs on Coffee Grounds (and How Wood-Gas Powers Cars With Garbage)
Photo Credits: deborah sherman photography
The Cafe Racer Truck Runs on 100% Recycled Coffee Grounds
A commenter on Ben’s wood-powered truck post pointed us to a similar car hack. The truck above is also powered by a wood gas generator, except this one runs on coffee grounds. The Cafe Racer is a 1975 GMC pickup that essentially burns up used coffee to create a combustible gas. The gas is filtered on its way to the engine and, Viola, a caffeine-powered truck.
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It’s interesting to note that this and the last vehicle mentioned are promoting a specific fuel (wood and coffee grounds), since the onboard wood gas generators can gasify almost any type of combustible material.
Gasification is a non-selective method using heat and a controlled amount of oxygen to convert biomass into a flammable vapor. In addition to Coffee Grounds, the Cafe Racer could use wood chips, old tires, and municipal trash, almost anything—which, by the way, is the same technology Coskata is using to make cellulosic ethanol out of garbage.
As Wikipedia puts it, gasification “was an important and familiar 19th century technology” that was commonly used until petroleum took over around the close of WWII. Although popular at that time, wood gas conversions are a bit of a throw back, but you never know what could gain popularity as gas prices continue to rise. Additionally, wood gas generators aren’t restricted to vehicles, and have found use in heating, cooking, and electricity production.
So how can a wood gas generator power a truck?
The reason a wood gas generator can power cars and trucks is that the internal combustion engine is actually powered by vapor, not liquid. In a gasoline-powered engine, gasoline is vaporized before entering the combustion chamber. Diesel is a little different; it’s sprayed into the combustion chamber as fine droplets which burn as they vaporize. Either way, if you can put a clean combustible vapor into the engine, you’ve got power*.
(*Just to mention where this information is coming from, I thought I’d point out this interesting factoid: back in 1989, FEMA sponsored a series of “emergency technology assessments” that included a book on gasification conversions. The title of the book is “Construction of a Simplified Wood Gas Generator for Fueling Internal Combustion Engines in a Petroleum emergency.”)
Gasifying a solid material partially burns it, which preserves some of the energy that would normally be wasted in the gas (otherwise there wouldn’t be anything left for the engine to burn). The gas contains a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen (N), and a small amount of methane (CH4).
The big question for wood gas use is (as usual), how do these systems compare to other petroleum alternatives in terms of environmental impact? The group behind Cafe Racer claims that it’s a carbon-negative demonstration vehicle, but they don’t substantiate that on their website. I wasn’t able to find much on the issue, except the risk of death from carbon monoxide poisoning in poorly designed systems, but my gut instinct tells me this isn’t the cleanest way to get around. If you know of a resource on the emissions of wood gas generators, please send it my way.
The important point here isn’t so much that you can run a truck on wood gas produced from waste materials (even though that’s pretty cool), but that this technology could play a major role in producing petroleum alternatives in the near future (more on that later).
If you enjoyed reading about this, check out these links, and see more pictures of the Cafe Racer below:
Posts Related To Wood Gas Generators and Other Car Hacks:
- Run Your Car on Wood? No Joke.
- Car Hacker’s Hummer Gets 60 MPG
- How to Get 76 MPG
- Six New Technologies Will Help Manufacturers Reach the 35 MPG Goal (Without Hybrids)
- The Cleanest Cars on Earth: Honda Civic GX and Other Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs)
- 376.59 MPG Car Found In Museum (It Was Built In 1959)
- Car and Driver Increase Pinto Fuel Economy with $11 of Ecomods
- Sick of Gas?: Convert Your Car To Run On Electricity
Photo Credit: deborah sherman photography: http://www.deborahsherman.com/, (studiodeb on Flickr). Used by permission (thanks!).
[...] A Truck That Runs on Coffee Grounds (and How Wood-Gas Powers Cars With Garbage) [...]
The claim of “carbon negative” or “carbon neutral” is based on this…
The biomass would rot openly, releasing its carbon compounds directly to the atmosphere if it weren’t burned in the gasifier/internal combustion engine. In addition, any stray carbon molecules in the incoming air will likewise be fully combusted by the process.
Using underground hydrocarbons takes the complex carbon molecules which are trapped underground and digs them up, burns them incompletely, and releases the resultant gases to the atmosphere.
That is the basis of the “carbon negative” or “carbon neutral” claim to a biomass gasification powered automobile. Besides, the simple carbon molecules used (CH4, CO, H2) do burn significantly more cleanly than the more complex fuels, resulting in mainly CO2 and H2O as exhaust gases.
Contrary to popular propaganda, CO2 is NOT a pollutant. Claims of “global warming” caused by CO2 emissions are unfounded, and being put forth to tighten control on the necessities of life, thereby ruling more completely an allegedly free people. The average global temperature is just now back up to average over the last 30k years or so, so there is no imminent danger therefrom. Expecting a stable environment is an absurdity, as the only constant in the universe is change. For the 600 odd scientists who have publicly endorsed the global-warming-as-a-result-of-man’s actions bit, there are thousands who question it, but they are not publicized as their beliefs have no political use. Don’t be sold on the voodoo science of political expedience.
It is purely a political question and merchantilist forces which cause the average gasoline powered vehicle to day to be no more efficient than they were almost 100 years ago. Yes, they don’t pollute as much, but they consume as much fuel as ever, and waste an incredible amount of energy as waste heat just to burn “clean”, and are forced to be technologically primitive compared to what they should actually be.
I know a man who runs all of his vehicles on wood or in a hybrid mode of woodgas and gasoline, or even propane, except the one electric he has. His vehicles range from a 1662 Studebaker to his newest conversion…a 1993 Chevy Silverado. He does very little driving by choice, but when he does go somewhere, he uses scrap wood harvested from his back yard to do it. This man had a hybrid electric VW beetle in 1977, using a 2 1/2 horsepower briggs with an alternator as a remote energy source. He would plug it in to charge it…drive somewhere, start the briggs to replenish the charge while he was about his business and drive back home. The briggs also provided heat in winter.
Everywhere I drive is on wood or some other biomass.
It has been over three years sence I have driven anywhere on gasoline and I am averaging over 300 hundred miles per week. About 40,000 miles in the last four years. Last fall I made a trip from the gulf coast to the Great Lakes and back ( 900 miles in 18 hours). This fall I will be on a Cross county tour from the east coast to the west coast and back .
This system is carbon neutral. The energy I use today to drive, is replaced today.
Thanks
Wayne Keith
where are the scientists and innovators on this subject? it seems that somebody could have redesigned this working concept into an easily re-produceable model. also, where are some understandable drawings on this process? all that I’ve seen are either hand scratched on paper or line drawn & almost unreadable.
gasoline is fastly approaching $4 per gallon in the USA & I’m ready to try an alternative!
Stuart,
I’ve got to say that’s the most original conspiracy theory I’ve ever heard about global warming. Anything can be a “pollutant” if you get to much of it (ie if it throws natural cycles out of wack), and CO2 is no exception.
$4 per gallon? This is a crisis… considering that with the exception of some oil-rich countries the USA enjoys the cheapest refined fuel prices in the known universe.
On current exchange rates with the US dollar, fuel costs approx $11 per gallon in London and fast approaching $7 per gallon in Australia and New Zealand.
So alternative fuels are a great idea, but they are not without their drawbacks. I tailed this truck for 20 mins and was overcome by its emissions. Instantly I craved a cigarette, had an overwhelming desire to take a dump and I just couldn’t get to sleep that night.
According to several {hundred} sources on the net, burning clean wood (or coffee or any other plant life) is carbon neutral as they only release the same amount of carbon they have stored over there lifetimes and also to add to that anyone chopping the trees down in the first place should be planting new ones which should more than overly compensate for running a wood gas generator… sounds like a good use for old technology to me
very cool i think it is a great idea
i have been wondering for a while if something like ethonol based fuel is achievable from used Grinds, and i kinda came to the conclusion that most of the sugars etc needed to produce some are used. Am very keen to know if there is a way to do so.. would love to run my vespa on “coffee”..
The awkward American! Try bio-diesel from algae in a VW turbo, bio-diesel electric hybrid with plug-in. They have been built, but are not to American tastes and sensibilities yet! but $5.00 gal gas can change that elitist taste for the large and ugly!