For some of us, it takes a couple of cups of coffee to wake up
and hit the road. The Bean Machine, a coffee-powered pickup
built by UK engineer and conservationist Martin Bacon, takes the
notion of caffeine-based energy to a whole new level.
Commissioned by The Co-operative Food to commemorate their 10th
anniversary of converting all of their coffee to fair trade, the
truck set a Guinness World Record for the highest speed ever
attained by a java-powered vehicle, clocking in at 65mph. The
ingenious Bean Machine is a modified Ford F100 pickup that uses
the process of gasification powered by coffee chaff pellets. The
pellets, which are a byproduct of coffee production, are heated
by a charcoal fire and broken down into hydrogen and carbon
monoxide. The gas is cooled and filtered before hydrogen is
combusted to operate the engine. Gasification was a widespread
means of transportation in wartime England, where over 100,000
vehicles were powered by the process during WWII. At the
beginning of the 20th century, 900