Top 5 Weirdest alternative energy sources
There's now not a shred of doubt that biofuels are actively a bad idea and far from being the 'green' wonder fuels many had hoped. This has created a big vacuum that's like a red rag to a bull for anyone after a fast buck, but is also bringing about lots of fascinating research into how we can get from A to B without using up ever more scarce resources.
Follow the jump for a quick rundown of some of the promising, unlikely and downright bizarre 'green fuel' ideas currently doing the rounds.
Bugs that excrete oil
It sounds like something straight out of a science fiction film, but scientists have recently managed to genetically modify insects to excrete crude oil after snacking on agricultural waste such as woodchips or wheat straw. It is claimed that if mass-produced, the resulting 'Oil 2.0' will not only be renewable, it'll also be 'carbon negative' - meaning that the carbon it emits will be less than that sucked from the atmosphere by the raw materials from which it is made. And mass production is certainly the plan, with a commercial-scale facility set to being in 2011.
The Texan rubbish man
Remember the machine in Back to the Future that converted rubbish into fuel? Well, the idea could become reality as a Texas man claims he can extract almost limitless amounts of fuel from ordinary farm waste. John Rivera says his "reactors" can convert waste like leftover feed, beans, rice, husks and grains into bio-fuel or what he calls "Vetroleum". The Vetroleum can then be further refined into other fuels like gasoline or even jet fuel. Rivera claims 60 pounds of waste can produce nearly six gallons of fuel. Sounds great, but where's my hoverboard?
Confiscated Booze
nearly 200,000 gallons of smuggled alcohol is snagged by authorities on its way into Sweden each year. Instead of simply pouring it down the drain, however, authorities have come up with an alternative use for all of the confiscated beverages. The biogas created from the mixed cocktail of smuggled goods is used to power a variety of vehicles, including buses an a train. In this win-win situation, customs is glad to be rid of the excess liquid and the country benefits from the fuel produced as a result of the process.
Human waste
One source that's constantly being 'renewed' is human sewage, and a Canadian company has already begun using it to create an alternative green fuel. So far, oil taken from the sewage sludge (eew!) has been used as an alternative to fossil fuels in boilers and diesel engines, with reasonable success.
Dirty Nappy Diesel
One company has a brilliant idea for turning what would normally be landfill material into cost-effective, synthetic diesel fuel: Nappies. It relies on a process called pyrolisis, which can be used to break down many materials, but works best when you know exactly what waste products you are using. Nappies can be separated easily from other rubbish -- and let's face it, it's reasonably easy to predict what'll be in them. You can read more about this project (which is still not quite potty-trained itself) here.
