Coming soon, cars powered by dirty nappies, food scraps

SYDNEY - Australia’s most popular car the General Motors (GM) Holden could soon be seen running on daily household garbage, including dirty nappies and food scraps, as the car company has formed a consortium with Caltex, the Victorian Government and three other technology companies to explore the viability of an ethanol plant that would convert household rubbish into fuel.

The plant is likely to be set-up in Melbourne, which will use GM partner Coskata’s technology to produce more than 200 million litres of ethanol a year from household rubbish and building waste for E85 automotive fuel, a blend of up to 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petrol.

The ethanol plant would take two years to build and would be capable of producing 200 million litres of ethanol a year from a variety of waste, including building materials, paper, cardboard and household food scraps.

Talking about the ambitious plan, Holden’s energy and environment director, Richard Marshall said the technology would greatly reduce Australia’s dependence on conventional and foreign fuel and would be eco-friendly as well.

“Our vision is that this technology will, in time, cut Australia’s dependence on petrol by up to 30 per cent and make a contribution to sustainable motoring and greenhouse gas reduction,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Marshall, as saying.

“This process can use anything from dirty nappies to food scraps,” he said.(ANI)