‘Green’ car could take the grind out of commuting (From The Northern Echo)

‘Green’ car could take the grind out of commuting

10:16am Wednesday 17th March 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(1)

A FATHER and son team of conservationists have claimed a coffee-breakthrough after using an alternative fuel to take to the roads.

Martin and Matt Bacon have adapted a motor – dubbed the Carpuccino – which runs on used coffee grounds collected from local cafes.

The pair, from Teesdale Conservation Volunteers, blended their skills on the green project with Gem Stansfield, of BBC One science show Bang Goes The Theory.

They transformed a 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco into a caffeine-fuelled, eco-friendly vehicle.

The battered white car, bought for £400, was modified with materials donated via the internet site Freecycle.

The volunteers group collected kilos of used coffee grounds from Costa Coffee, Penny’s and Bowes Museum cafe, in Barnard Castle, before turning them into pellets at the group’s headquarters – a former water treatment works in nearby Deepdale Woods, Startforth.

The car was modified by the Bacons, with the help of Mr Stansfield, and last weekend they drove it from BBC Television House, in London, to the UK Young Scientists’ and Engineers’ Fair, in Manchester.

Mr Bacon Sr said the trip to Manchester went very smoothly. “The drive actually was very good. The biggest problem we had was being stuck in a very bad traffic jam.

“Once we got out of the bad traffic we could quite easily travel at 70mph.

“We had to stop once to clear a filter, but that was all.”

Only the carburettor on the car’s engine needed to be modified and, because it uses hydrogen gas, only water vapour comes out of the exhaust pipe.

The other waste product, tar, is collected in filters and can be recycled.

“Gas engines have actually been around for a long time and were quite common in the Second World War,” said Mr Bacon Sr.

Teesdale Conservation Volunteers run a variety of conservation schemes, including the Rotters composting scheme and From Plot to Pot – which encourages people to sell their unwanted home produce.

The coffee car will feature on Bang Goes The Theory on May 3.

The car will also feature on the Bang Goes The Theory roadshows and Mr Bacon Sr said he hoped to be able to take it to schools in the region for education workshops.