When assessing the motors available as you are looking for new car deals, there is a lot to consider. Make, model, number of cylinders, what speed gearbox and what gadgets you get on the dash are all some of the things that you will want to weigh up before parting with your cash.
Of course, there is also the type of fuel that you want your car to run on.
Currently, this is pretty much a straightforward choice between petrol and diesel. Hybrid engines and electric cars are becoming more viable, but as the Earth gradually runs out of its fossil supplies, more fuel alternatives are going to be available.
Many engineers are trying to take everyday waste products and build engines that can use them as fuel to propel the next generation of cars.
Urine-powered car
The latest example of this is a car that uses biological waste. Urine costs absolutely nothing to produce – except the costs of keeping your body hydrated – and in theory, you wouldn't need a filling station to keep your car's tank full.
A Sardinian researcher named Franco Lisci has recently tried to take the urine-powered car concept out of the textbooks and on to the road and his environmentally-friendly experiments have been supported by the University of Sassari, while Legambiente, the Italian Environmentalist Association, has also taken an interest.
Mr Lisci has crafted two types of engines – one for domestic use, which can be used to power lights and washing machines, and one that can slot straight into an automobile.
Refining the fuel
In order for crude to be used in a car it needs to undergo a refinery process and a similar technique is used for the urine, although this is far more green as only a special filter made of sheep's wool is needed to rid the urine of its polluting particles.
Currently, in Italy it is illegal to use urine as a fuel source, so the scientist has had to develop ways of using it as an additive.
Encouraging results
Transformers are used that allow the use of urine as an additive in cars that run on existing fuels and the results have been encouraging. Mr Lisci found that a car that runs on petrol can reduce its fuel consumption by 35 per cent with the addition of the treated urine, while in diesel-powder cars, the results are even more marked, with savings of 60 per cent observed so far.
There is also the impact the urine has on pollution to consider. The only waste produced by the urine fuel is clean water, which contains minerals that can be used to nourish the Earth, so has a very low environmental impact.
Although it may be some time yet before you can find a new car deal offering a urine-powered car at a great price, substantial progress is being made and a car which runs on urine in the future may be a distinct possibility.
Posted by Emma Grange