Scientists recently developed a method to convert sewage into biocrude oil, so it appears that our future will quite literally be shit. According to a report from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, researchers converted poop to oil using a process called hydrothermal liquefaction. PNNL explains that hydrothermal…
With all the hype surrounding electric cars and hydrogen-powered fuel-cells, it's easy to think hydrogen is the future of automobiles. But as people start developing and popularizing these enviro-friendly cars, some problems are becoming apparent. And meanwhile, there's a new kid on the block that is threatening to…
By intensely focusing the suns rays on a rare earth oxide, researchers have discovered a reactor that could produce fuel from water.
In May, Toyota stated its intention to invest $50 million in electric car maker Tesla Motors. Today, the companies announced that Tesla will produce an electric version of the Rav4 SUV for Toyota in 2012.
Scientists at Korea's S&P Energy Research Institute have worked out a way of manufacturing hydrogen that's 20-30 times cheaper than current methods. Typical electrolysis methods in use take about 4 to 4.5 kWh of energy for each cubic meter of H2 gas but the new Korean method (apparently a chemical process) takes just…
I'm all for hydrogen-or any alternative fuel source for that matter (Shai Agassi, my man, let's get cooking already!)-but if you're going to heavily promote your cross-country trek as the "first ever" for hydrogen-powered vehicles, at least make sure large, 1,000-mile stretches of it did not involve having the…
E-Fuel's MicroFueler, the home-based ethanol production system that makes gas from sugar or stale beer, was unveiled for the first time today in New York. E-Fuel says it will now take preorders for the $10,000 system, and will ship it by the end of the year. As you can see, it's not the smallest thing—no wonder the…
The dream of a home ethanol pump has been realized, says the New York Times, thanks to inventor named Floyd S. Butterfield. One of the world's only celebrated non-hillbilly still-makers, Butterfield has invented the $10,000 E-Fuel 100 MicroFueler, a gadget that combines heaps of sugar and a sprinkling of yeast to…
We knew things were getting bad in Serbia, but this is ridiculous. Our beloved blogging brothers-in-arms from Jalopnik tell us about a Serbian Yugo with a rather unusual fuel source. Instead of pulling the car along with horses, somebody tapped into a different kind of 125-year-old technology and ended up with a car…
