Would you believe a car powered by coffee grounds?

Forget the electric vehicle revolution–this car is juiced up by the same stuff that powers you in the morning. The “Carpuccino” car was built by a team from the BBC science show Bang Goes The Theory to prove the viability of cars powered by fuels other than conventional gasoline and diesel. The car, built from a converted 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco, was used by the show because it looks like the DeLorean from Back to the Future.

Interesting story of a car that runs on coffee, not very practical, but a great reminder that almost any fuel can be harnessed for the use of transportation. Makes biodiesel seem simple, this is a contraption. 

An experiment: can you grow jatropha in space? Biodiesel reaches for the sky

Fruits of J. curcas. Fruits are produced terminally in the branches, and each fruit contains three seeds. Image credit: Dr. Wagner A Vendrame, University of Florida at Homestead

What if space held the key to producing alternative energy crops on Earth? That's what researchers are hoping to find in a new experiment on the International Space Station.

The experiment, National Lab Pathfinder-Cells 3, is aimed at learning whether microgravity can help jatropha curcas plant cells grow faster to produce biofuel, or renewable fuel derived from biological matter. Jatropha is known to produce high quality oil that can be converted into an alternative energy fuel, or biofuel.

By studying the effects of microgravity on jatropha cells, researchers hope to accelerate the cultivation of the plant for commercial use by improving characteristics such as cell structure, growth and development. This is the first study to assess the effects of microgravity on cells of a biofuel plant.

Nice to see some are looking a the far future, growing biofuel in space, and what better plant to start with than jatropha. Hopefully, we can learn more about the plant which some call the future of biodiesel.

$1-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive clears Senate as part of jobs bill, on to the House

As expected, the federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive has cleared the U.S. Senate on the back of the current jobs bill.

The 62-36 vote now moves the measure into a reconciliation phase with the House’s version of the bill.

I caught up with Michael Frohlich, the director of federal communications for the National Biodiesel Board’s office in Washington, D.C. earlier this evening. He says final passage of this important measure can’t come soon enough.

“It’s an immediate need for the industry at this point,” says Frohlich, pointing out that biodiesel has been without the credit since the beginning of the year. Fortunately, if the bill does pass and is signed into law, it will be retroactive back to January 1, 2010.

It looks like a sure thing at this point, the politics of biodiesel wins the moment, but if this young industry has to go through this much trauma each year, there will be big losses. Let’s at least get a five year plan for biodiesel in America.

3 months after explosion, Imperium restarts Grays Harbor biodiesel plant

The Imperium Grays Harbor biodiesel refinery has resumed production. Photograph: Imperium Renewables

Imperium’s refinery in Grays Harbor, Washington, suffered damage on 2 December when a 10,000-gallon, heated glycerine tank ruptured due to over-pressurization, damaging nearby pipes and storage tanks.

On Tuesday, the plant received its first shipment of vegetable oil and has restored biodiesel production. While the market is improving, the huge plant will operate at less than full capacity for the time being.

Imperium founder and chief executive John Plaza states: “We are thrilled to be producing again. We have replaced the damaged equipment and re-designed the glycerin neutralization system to ensure such a rupture won’t happen again.”

Glycerine, a dark liquid, is a co-product of biodiesel production.

In addition to the plant repairs, the biodiesel market appears to be on the mend.

Keep that biodiesel flowing, I guess it takes more than an explosion to keep this plant out of operation, the article also mentions how nearby biodiesel blending mandates are helping the demand.

As we’ve talked about on these pages before, the battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation of car purchasers is starting. By the end of the year many major auto manufacturers will have some kind of electric vehicle for sale on the mass market and by 2014, nearly all major manufacturers have plans to introduce at least one electric car.

In these early stages, carmakers have chosen several different paths, some opting to go for the cars powered solely by batteries (Battery Electric Vehicles or BEVs) such as the Nissan LEAF, some for the plug-in hybrids (PHEVs; like a Prius with a bigger battery), and some for the extended range electric vehicles (EREVs with small generators on board to charge the batteries) such as the Chevy Volt.

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Daimler AG and Chinese advanced battery tech company BYD have announced a partnership which will bring a new auto brand and electric vehicle to China, currently the largest auto market of the world.