An Orange A Day Keeps The Eco-Car (Peeling) Away!

What do you think about the new Stauro 3-wheeled concept car pictured above? Taylor Welden, a Texas-based industrial designer and engineer Harry Schoell are among the 7 person team who are currently tweaking the features of this urban and eco-friendly mode of transportation in the hopes that it will soon be produced (with all materials sourced) within 500 miles of its ultimate headquarters. Here are the stats:

100% recycled aluminum exoskeleton

3form body panels made out of 40% recycled co-polyester material

Orange-oil powered steam engine producing up to 700HP

Comfortably seats 2 passengers

Pressing orange skins in order to make an eco-friendly fuel alternative is a particularly intriguing idea that has been studied at great length. Japanese scientists have established that orange oil -- which has a flash point of 56 degrees celsius -- can effectively run a CER engine (with minor challenges under winter conditions). Traditional fuel blended with 10% orange oil was found to be an acceptable blending ratio that created a surprising benefit -- gasoline emissions were reduced by half! Other positives include comparable fuel consumption and engine performance compared to conventional gasoline. Orange oil has been channeled into other applications, such as with Yokohama's highly recyclable, high performance orange oil-impregnated race car tires which reduce petroleum inputs by 10%. While both advances are impressive, the Stauro team's proposal leads one to believe that they are squeezing every last drop out of the orange for some astringent eco-giddy-up!