A CONSERVATION group has set a new land speed record for a car fuelled by leftover coffee.

The Teesdale Conservation Volunteers (TCV) achieved the feat yesterday in their modified 1974 Rover SD1 3500, which they adapted to be powered by gasification, created by burning used coffee granules in the vehicle, thus generating clean gas and reducing its carbon footprint.

Despite the high winds, the vehicle reached 75mph one way and 58mph the other way, giving an average speed of 66mph, at Elvington Race Track, near York, yesterday.

Martin Bacon, who runs TCV from Startforth, near Barnard Castle, built the car with his 16-year-old son, Phillip, and they were joined at the race track yesterday by fellow TCV members Ben Day-Preston, Colin Davison and Kevin Bowers.

They collected the waste coffee from the Bowes Museum’s cafe and Penny’s Cafe, in Barnard Castle. It was then put through a pellet mill to get air into it.

One day, they picked up 10kg of coffee, which Mr Bacon said could power the car for about 100 miles.

The group had been aiming for 80mph, but hope that people will try to beat their record and in doing so, improve gasifiers, which previously had a reputation for restricting speed.

Mr Bacon said: “The weather wasn’t ideal. It was really windy, and it wasn’t possible to go as fast as I wanted, but we have still set a record.

“The speed is not bad at all considering the conditions and we all had a fun day.

“It was great to get the car out there – and it is major achievement to get it running on a waste product.

“That’s what we wanted to show – that cars don’t just have to run on fuels that are dug out of the ground.”

Their next venture is to build a gasifier that can run a 50kw grid and test it on different waste materials to achieve an automated system that can put energy back into the National Grid.