German inventor's "cat fuel" angers animal lovers

Reuters ^ | September 14, 2005 | Staff

[MadIvan]

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German inventor has angered animal rights activists with his answer to fighting the soaring cost of fuel -- dead cats.

Christian Koch, 55, from the eastern county of Saxony, told Bild newspaper that his organic diesel fuel -- a home-made blend of garbage, run-over cats, and other ingredients -- is a proven alternative to normal consumer diesel.

"I drive my normal diesel-powered car with this mixture," Koch said. "I have gone 170,000 km (106,000 miles) without a problem."

The website of Koch's firm, "Alphakat GmbH", says his patented "KDV 500" machine can produce what he calls the "bio-diesel" fuel at about 23 euro cents (30 cents) a litre, which is about one-fifth the price at petrol stations now.

Koch said around 20 dead cats added into the mix could help produce enough fuel to fill up a 50-litre (11 gallon) tank.

But the president of the German Society for the Protection of Animals, Wolfgang Apel, said using dead cats for fuel was illegal.

"There's no danger for cats and dogs in Germany because this practice is outlawed in Germany," Apel told Bild on Wednesday in a story entitled "Can you really make fuel out of cats?"

"We're going to keep an eye on this case," Apel said.

[MadIvan]

I'm allergic to cats. Glad a use has been found for them.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Ping!

[dfwgator]

What a waste of good meat.

[highlymotivated]

Works for me.

Now when someone invents a fuel use for LIBERALS, THEN you'd be talking!

[edcoil]

One of the best books ever written: 1001 Things to do with a dead Cat.

[TheForceOfOne]

How many CPG's (cats per gallon) is that?

[Red Badger]

In related news, prices at Chinese and Korean Restaurants are going up......

[Slicksadick]

[steveo]

Put a tiger in your tank.

[atomicpossum]

Provacative stunt rhetoric. If he'd said 'animal remains' he wouldn't have gotten the press-- 'dead cats' gets the headlines.

What are they worried about, raising cats for fuel purposes? That's more dumb than ethanol!

[PBRSTREETGANG]

This stuff is guaranteed to make your engine purr.

[Ken H]

It'll make your engine purr.

[RockinRight]

Bet that car purrs like a kitten.

[pennboricua]

I bet that engine just purrs, along.

[MadeInAmerica]

LOL, every now and then you have to throw in a liberal....Gatta grease the internals

[Bob]

This stuff is guaranteed to make your engine purr.

Yeah but it'll only run when it wants to.

[Slicksadick]

[tiredoflaundry]

We are not amused!

[manwiththehands]

How many catpower is one horsepower?

[MadeInAmerica]

ROFLMAO

[calex59]

4 purr jokes in a row. Can't you guys come up with something a little more original?:)

[tiredoflaundry]

;-)

[LongElegantLegs]

Alright, I've got most of the ingredients, somebody get me the recipe.

My Chevy's going to eat tonight!

[glorgau]

I can't stand cats either, but what is it with Germans and burning dead bodies?

[WoofDog123]

this might be illegal in germany; I know that in the UK it is an offense to use a car (or road, not sure on the technical) without paying petrol tax...there was some guy charged who was mixing vegtable oil and something else in england, IIRC.

[Jeff Chandler]

That one cat could solve our present fuel shortage.

[tophat9000]

I wonder how many meows to the gallon

[Yo-Yo]

Prepare for the wrath of the Viking Kitties!

[Monti Cello]

Only drawback is the need for heavy-duty shocks to reduce the inevitable dead cat bounce.

[Happygal]

Cool! A great use of road kill! :-)

[headsonpikes]

LOL! The last of the free cats!

From now on, they'll be worth 35 cents, or more, as fuelstock!

[SaveTheChief]

Why, Kennedy himself must have enough potential energy to provide for one cross country trip in an RV!

[BookaT]

The cost referenced here is misleading. The .23 cents is what normal fuel costs in Germany before the government adds the other 4/5ths in taxes.

When you drive up to a gas pump in Germany there is a sticker that tells you that .73 Euro per liter is tax. So add that to the alphakat cost and now you are right at about .96 Euro per liter which is about what the going price for Diesel is currently.

Taxes man! they suck

[Constitution Day]

[Calico Cat]

I resent this thread! How can anyone joke about the casual taking of feline life? Hiss! Pfft!

[beltfed308]

A purrfect solution to energy problems?

[U S Army EOD]

I have a CATerpillar bulldozer, this will be ideal.

[anonymous_user]

101 uses for a dead cat? Now there's 102.

[dc-zoo]

Sounds like a "cat's/ass/trophe".

[U S Army EOD]

We have enough problems with air pollution already, however on the bright side, if we start burning liberals, we can blame them for gobal warming.

I think anything powered by a liberals would just spin its wheels and go nowhere, if you can actually get it to work.

[Apparatchik]

That would be one dead fat cat.

[andyk]

"There's no danger for cats and dogs in Germany because this practice is outlawed in Germany,"

So, they have a law on the books specifically outlawing the use of dead cats in fuel for internal combustion engines. Now that's a bureaucracy!

[G.Mason]

This post will turn out to be the ***Official Friday Silliness Thread*** for hump day.

Well done MadIvan!

[elbucko]

What are they worried about, raising cats for fuel purposes?

Why not? The Democrats grow minority children on poverty farms for future voting purposes.

[Paradox]

LOL, this is hilarious! It seems to me that if a cat can be used, then any source of meat would work. Why, heck, the Democratic party is full of p*ssies, they could solve our fuel problems overnight!

BTW, I am not sure of the slang "pussies" is used "over there" as it is here in the US. We use it for 1-Cats, 2-femal genitalia, and 3-Timid and cowerdly people.

[highlymotivated]

No no. That only applies to HOT AIR balloons. Chappaquiddick Ted is air-lifted into national events to bloviate and fill up the bags.

[rdcorso]

A room full of liberals can produce enough gas to power an entire city for months.Just imagine the toxic fumes that flow through Ted Kennedy everyday.

[sandydipper]

Mt neighbor has 3 cats that I'll donate.

[ArrogantBustard]

He's adding road-kill to his feedstock:

a home-made blend of garbage, run-over cats, and other ingredients -- is a proven alternative to normal consumer diesel.

Anything else, from field mice to deer, would work just as well

[netmilsmom]

I'm not allergic to cats, I own one and I think this is a great idea!

The question becomes, is it just cats that can make this fuel (as opposed to racoons or opposums ~ I hate those things)?

Why can't we use any road kill? MI in spring has a plethora of animals by the side of the road that didn't move fast enough.