Ladies and Gentlemen Allow Me to Introduce the Cat Car

Kelmar writes "CNN is running a story about how a German inventor has found a way to power a car using dead cats. Yes you read that right. According to the inventor he can produce the biodiesel fuel at the cost of about $0.30 (US) per liter. Needless to say many animal rights activists are upset by this development, and some are saying that it is illegal to use animals for this purpose in Germany."

Publicity stunt

[TummyX]

Gee, why not state that he's making them from human corpses? Hell, if he did then michael moore could make a movie about how bush singly handedly created hurricane katrina in order to turn black people into oil (if he hasn't already done so).

There's no reason why the fuel can't be exclusiuvely made out of less controversial (and, from a cat owner's point of view, less offensive) fuel farm animal waste products, trash and other oranic waste.

The only reason, I see, that he mentioned cats was to get on the news.

Alternatives

[ThreeDayMonk]

One could presumably also use the remains of other creatures, such as politicians, lawyers, and estate agents.

"In theory".

Re:Publicity stunt

[commodoresloat]

Considering the amount of inhumanity that goes on in the oil industry - including the protection and support by oil companies of murderous and repressive governments in oil producing countries - it is not too far a stretch to say that we already are filling our tanks with human remains. I'm not the first to have this thought [mnftiu.cc].....

Re:Does anyone know?

[Anonymous Coward]

Umm, sorry you're 60 years too late! They already did :-P

Re:Finally!

[Petersson]

anyway, we are currently using dead dinosaurs and trees as fuel - it is called 'crude oil', 'coal' and 'natural gas'.

must consider taxes when comparing!!

[adrianmonk]

TFA says he

can produce what he calls the "bio-diesel" fuel at about 23 euro cents (30 cents) a liter, which is about one-fifth the price at petrol stations now.

Which is fine, but that's a meaningless comparison. In the United States, the tax on gasoline is a huge percentage, and I've heard that in some places in Europe, up to 80% of the money you're paying at the pump goes to taxes, and as little as 20% of it goes to the actual cost of fuel. If this is true, that obliterates his factor of 5 right there.

Can anyone in Germany comment on what percentage of the money that you pay at the pump goes to taxes? One site [germany-info.org] I found indicates the tax on diesel was 47.04 euro cents per liter in 2003 and 65.45 euro cents per liter on gasoline, but the chart on that site is hard to read and unclear.

But let's just assume that figure is accurate and compare things taking into account taxes. The article says it costs him 23 euro cents to produce a liter, and that regular diesel costs 5 times that much at the pump. That means you pay about 115 euro cents at the pump. If his biodiesel were subject to the same taxes, and if it were free to store it and transport it and there were no markup at all anywhere from manufacturing all the way to retail sales, then his biodiesel would be 70 cents per liter. So, what you pay at the pump right now is only 1.6 times as much as the minimum his fuel could ever really cost if it were sold at the pump, not 5 times as much.

Re:Inventor misquoted?

[Skye16]

I wonder if they'd let you use human remains for this?

I know I certainly wouldn't mind (my own) remains being used. Better than being buried and eaten by worms.

"live chicken leftover" = ...

[Anonymous Coward]

an egg

This is why we cannot trust the media

[raddan]

Reuters picks up a story from BILD, a tabloid, and then runs it? Fine, if Reuters wants to get their inspiration from a tabloid, whatever, but didn't they do any fact-checking at all? Apparently not! Even worse, CNN reran this story, also apparently unchecked, from Reuters!

That's TWO major media outlets that did ZERO fact-checking!

And now, to prove my tinfoil hat is still working-- is it really that much of a stretch to suggest that some oil industry PR firm planted this story? Sure, I may be way off-base, but I think I've earned the right to speculate wildly considering that two major news outlets simply printed untruths.

Re:This is why we cannot trust the media

[A_Known_Coward]

TFA on CNN didn't base its story on the tabloid one. It seems to have done an independent investigation and is reporting that the tabloid got facts wroing per an interview with the inventor.

Please RTFA next time

Re:Oh come on

[Anonymous Coward]

I know that's meant as a joke (the kitten huffing is actually quite hillarious), but IMHO Bonsai Kitten borders on promoting animal cruelty. It just isn't clear enough whether or not the site is meant to be a joke. Of course, even if it is a joke there are sick fucks who will actually do that kind of thing regardless. I have almost no faith in humanity.

Re:Live Cats

[narcc]

Since cats always land on their feet, and buttered toast always lands butter side down, suspennding the cat in mid-air would, in theory, result in a perpetual energy source.

Explaining the joke just ruins it. A shame too, as I thought it was very funny.