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Yamaha Unveils Golf Cart Powered By Cow Dung
Jessica Mischner writes "You've seen cars powered by the sun, wind and biofuels — but a vehicle propelled by dung? Yamaha just unveiled the first one at a golf course in Japan. The experimental golf cart doesn't run on cow dung directly — the poo is processed into biofuel which is then converted into methane — but it represents a huge leap forward for green innovations."
How often do you see cow dung on a golf course? If they really wanted to make a useful "green" golf cart, they would power it with the most abundant resources present on golf courses: beer farts and impotent rage.
P**p will soon be powering your hi-fi stereo system and your premier acoustic guitars.
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
Usually the shitbags are on the seats.
Sheldon
The fact that methane can be made from cow dung(among a large number of other things) doesn't mean that slapping a methane engine or fuel cell on a vehicle amounts to producing a "vehicle powered by cow dung".
By that elastic standard, any rechargable battery-powered vehicle is actually a "coal/oil/nuclear fission/nuclear fusion(seamless upgrade in-the-field at some future date)/wind/hydro/solar flex fuel vehicle". Nonsense, twaddle, and utter rot.
There was something on PBS last night that talked about how agricultural waste, especially cow and chicken crap, is a huge huge water pollution problem in many places in the US. I hope this fuel conversion process is something that can really happen large scale. The other cool info they talked about is that a lot of water pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay area are causing male fish to grow female eggs and other scary things that could cause problems in people, too since people drink this water and the filters at water processing plants can't handle these "new pollutants". Great, we won't just go sterile, we'll grow 6 legs and our balls will drop off.
Hell, that's nothing.
GM, Ford and Chrysler are already selling vehicles powered by organic waste. Granted, the material has been highly compressed and heated through geologic forces over millions of years until it becomes a black goo which is then refined into a flammable liquid.... but you can still call it organic waste, correct?
I call bullshit.
"Screw Sun, cross-platform will never work. Let's move on and steal the Java language." - Visual J++ Product Manager
Yeah, but I bet it gets really shitty gas mileage.
which means it will generate CO2. Maybe less than gasoline, but on the other side it is VERY explosive and has to be stored in high pressure tanks.
What happened with wind/solar/hidrogen based technologies? shouldn't we be researching on them?
- Human knowledge belongs to the world
Because cows don't produce enough methane already.
===== will post for karma
Since when has "poop" been a swear word that needs to be censored?
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
I can just see the endorsment touting the "sweet smell of victory."
The guy who invented it was definitely a fart Smeller and so will be those around the cart
Now let's see if they can design a golfer that isn't.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
They should call it "Master Blaster" Ok ok that was lame.
BBC's Top Gear did this quite a few years ago. They raced 3 cars - one fueled by cow crap, one by human crap, and one by gasoline.
Jenkins hits the ball
Smith: Jenkins, your game could power our cart.
Jenkins: What?
Smith: Your game is shit, Jenkins.
Harold Bates, an English Gentleman ran his Hillman car on methane in the 1950's. He produced and compressed his own supply. A google search for Harold Bates is far more edifying than the article.
Using fecal matter to produce methane is what most wastewater treatment plants use to power their facilities in the first place.
When will you people realize this is not anything new?
In college I had an entire professor apparently powered by cow dung.
Apparently Yamaha does ;-)
Methane is about *20 times* more effective at trapping heat than CO2. Both are "Green house" gases.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane#Methane_as_a_greenhouse_gas
Let the flames begin! ( pun intended :P )
By the time Version 3.0 comes out it it will be marketed as bean powered porta-cart named "Blazing Saddles" .
If you put a wind sail on a golf cart, then arrogant rich people can combine their favorite two past-times: golf and sailing. It's okay to stereotype rich people, right?
THL phish sticks
Cowadunga duude!
Hell, that's nothing. GM, Ford and Chrysler are already selling vehicles powered by organic waste. Granted, the material has been highly compressed and heated through geologic forces over millions of years until it becomes a black goo which is then refined into a flammable liquid.... but you can still call it organic waste, correct?
Boy, there for a minute, when you were talking about highly compressed organic waste, I thought you might have been referring to those tall piles of shit they call Executives.
Then, I realized you were serious.
My observation still stands as a viable source of highly refined bullshit, in case GM were to look towards another vehicle line...
is some drunken golfer dropping his pants and crapping down the exhaust pipe of his cart.
Here's to hot beer, cold women, and Glaswegian kisses for all.
How about using this to build an autonomous cattle herdiing robot!
Unexpect the expected!
to the term "chip shot"
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Must be underwritten by Monsanto to generate more demand for chemical (petroleum based) fertilizers.
What a stupid idea.
Guy standing in the fairway hits an iron shot deep into the trees. He slumps in disappointment.
"Dude", says a guy wearing Oakleys riding alongside in a cart. "As long as you're looking for new ways to stink up the joint, why not help the planet at the same time?"
It's painted to look like a cow!!!
This could totally be perfect for Mongolia, and New Zealand and Australia.. Cattle puts out ALOT of crap. Next thing you know, New Zealand will be powering their golf carts off of methane directly extracted from the asses of all of their sheep.
Gobar gas has been in use in India since early '70s and has been used not just to power vehicles, but for cooking and non-combustive electricity generation as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biogas
Google Books: Encyclopaedia of environmental energy resources / By G. R. Chhatwal
Cow dung is pure.
haha ya legislate all politicians must ride one of these rosy vehicles
On our farm, we used to run a little still-like contraption that captured methane from manure that we used to run a water pump. My brother and I took that pump and made a go-cart with it (for a few days until my grandfather found out). Is the news here that a company has done this instead of a farm boy?
couldn't resist
...is to have golf-cart powered by human dung. Converting the seats to toilet seats, put in built-in microwave and a mini fridge. That'll be truly self-propelling.
Oh no ... sorry sorry .. my golf cart exhaust no good.