| A Tractor that Runs on...Anything? |
| Written by Hank Green | ||
| Sunday, 17 September 2006 | ||
 We talk about all kinds of new fuels and how they will alleviate our
dependence on oil. But why don't we just make an engine that can run
on anything? Well, Russell Henning, a student at San Jose University
did just that. The Grasshopper, shown here, is a walk behind tractor
that has an engine that will run on anything. Slash from a field, hay,
coconut shells, dried food waste, anything, as long as it's organic
and dry, can but put into the Grasshopper and the thing will run.
This is the first run-on-anything engine I've ever seen. Not only does it find a use for all that trash, it's also a simple and inexpensive machine that can increase productivity of farmers across the world. This doesn't prevent CO2 emission, but it does lessen the amount of mining and drilling needed to run a tractor.
Via ID Online
Comments
(5)
How does it work?
written by Rob , September 18, 2006
Turn it into a generator
written by Dave , September 18, 2006
I'd be interested to see what kind of electrical power could be kicked out of this thing - using it like a generator... That would make more sense to me than a tractor - especially if you can have several 1000 of them on hand to take to disaster areas. (where you have lots of scrap material around, but no easy way to get fuel in.)
Perhaps it runs on ...
written by Joe , September 18, 2006
This a trick right? ... perhaps it runs on, well, Russell Henning who himself runs on coconut shells and dried fruit.
...
written by tony glatt , March 29, 2007
I would like more info on this product like a cost to amazing machine
Yeah, need more info..
written by Abrams , June 27, 2008
Anymore information about this?
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I Googled to find some more information, but came up blank, anyone know of any further links.