This is a guest article by Izzy Guarella.  If you are interested in contributing to Debt RoundUp, please follow our guidelines.

Filling up your car is pricey and our gas guzzling cars are doing nothing to help the environment. So, If you’re fed up of splashing the cash at the gas station, you’ll be happy to hear that scientists are investigating alternatives. These organic fuels haven’t quite caught on yet, but oil-based gas could soon be a thing of the past. Here, PassSmart investigates the future of fuel!

1. Chocolate

Don’t go shoving milk chocolate into your fuel tanks just yet, but researchers at the University of Warwick in the UK created a car which ran on 30% chocolate. OK, so it didn’t run on chocolate alone, but the rest was made up of vegetable oil so it was pretty environmentally friendly!

The chocolate-powered car was the first Formula 3 racing car made from sustainable and renewable materials, and it even had a steering wheel made of carrots!

2. Wine

No one likes to see wine go to waste, and Prince Charles is no exception. The British prince has his very own Aston Martin which runs entirely on wine. The vintage ride puts left over wine to good use, as it all comes from a British vineyard. The owners of the vineyard have an EU quota to stick to when it comes to bottling up wine, and, rather than throwing away the excess, they sell it on to Green Fuels where it is transformed into fuel.

Although the bioethanol fuel sells for around £1.10 per litre ($1.70), it’s estimated to produce around 85% less carbon dioxide than oil-based fuel.

3. Poo!

Yes, it’s true, and we’re not sure who, or indeed how, they found out, but you can actually use poo to power your engine! It’s not the actual poo itself which powers the engine but the methane gases it produces.

Once the waste has been treated to lower the carbon dioxide levels, it’s ready to stick in your fuel tank! It doesn’t sound like a pleasant process, but it’s not like you’re going to use it for anything else!

4. Wood

Wood can be used as fuel when heated to 1,400 degrees Celsius. At this heat, the wood is turned into a combustible gas which will make your engine run.

It’s a great use of organic material, and cars powered by wood have around the same range as an electric vehicle. There is, however, the small matter of modifying your car to take wood as fuel. You’ll need to attach a wood gasifier to your car which, as you might expect, isn’t easy to disguise. If you can see past the aesthetic issues, though, it might be perfect for you!

5. Potato chips

With countries like the USA and the UK throwing away tonnes of leftover food every single month, it’s good to know there are constructive uses for our excess food. UK-based company, Greenergy – who supply a fifth of the UK’s petrol and diesel – started making fuel from food waste in 2011.

With high fat foods making the best fuel, Greenergy used ingredients such as potato chips and pies in their fuel recipe. The foods used were products which couldn’t be sold, either because they were out of date, misshapen or overcooked. Good for the environment and incredibly thrifty!

Author Bio: Izzy Guarella is from British company PassSmart.com.

Editor’s Note:  I thought this was interesting on all of the ways to fuel an automobile.  I know that most would require some engine modifications, but they can easily be done.  To think of all of the possibilities of fueling our cars.

Image courtesy of  FreeDigitalPhotos.net