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Chocolate-Powered Racecar Presented at MIT Conference

Everybody loves green technology. A lot of the new production models and concept cars use green technology, have reduced fuel consumption, low CO2 emissions and are meant to save the planet. As the future seems to be electric, car manufacturers need to get their technology on the market. As studies in this area continue, were are astonished from time to time by the people’s creativity.

This time, it is a Formula 3 racing car powered by leftover chocolate. Lola’s components are fabricated from carrots, potato starch and flax. According to planetark.org, the car can go from zero to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds, has a top speed of 135 mph (220 km/h) and has... brake pads made from cashews, which are still under development.

The car is England's University of Warwick's project and the world's first racing car retrofitted with renewable and sustainable materials. The project was shown at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) energy conference in Boston.

"She's incredibly green, taking materials that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill. It lets people engage with recycling without the finger-wagging,"
said Kerry Kirwan, one of the car's designers at the university. "The public has really taken the car to its heart, because she's fun," he said.

The car uses a modified 2 liter BMW engine that has been converted to diesel from gasoline and configured to run on fuel derived from waste from chocolate factories or other plant-based oils. Another impressive feature is a radiator that converts ozone back to oxygen.

"It's a racing car that cleans up as it goes along,"
said Steve Maggs, another member of the design team.

Nine months were needed to develop this car and it costs $200,000.
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