Coffee-powered car sets land speed record
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}No wonder it gets you going in the morning.
A car that runs on coffee has set a Guinness land speed record for, well, cars that run on coffee.
The Bean Machine hit a verified top speed of 65.5 mph on an airport in the U.K.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But don’t think they filled it up at the local Starbucks. Instead of the brewed beverage, the vehicle is fueled by pellets made from the chaff that comes off of coffee beans during the roasting process, which is then heated and broken down into carbon monoxide and hydrogen, the latter of which is cooled, filtered and combusted in an internal combustion engine.
The process is called gasification and works with just about any carbon-based substance. Coal-powered vehicles were common during World War II and the Bean Machine can also run on wood pellets.
The creator of the vehicle, Martin Bacon, tells FoxNews.com that the vehicle can travel about 55 miles on a 22-pound bag of pellets, which in wood form costs about $2.50. Charcoal powers the heater that enables the process.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}So, not exactly zero emissions, then, but at least Bacon doesn’t have to pay for his coffee pellets. The car is sponsored by a food retailer called The Co-operative, which commissioned the vehicle, Bacon’s third coffee-powered car, to celebrate 10 years of selling Fairtrade coffees.