Poop-powered zoo cart a dung deal in Denver

(Credit:
Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/CNET)

The Denver Zoo is rolling out a motorized rickshaw that has been converted to run on animal droppings. It might help save a bundle.

Imported from Thailand, the tuk-tuk is about 20 years old, but it has been given a new lease on life from engineers at the zoo.

The electric three-wheeler runs on gasified pellets made from animal poop, as well as trash produced by zoo visitors and staff.

A heater on the back of the prototype vehicle turns the pellets into syngas, which is used to generate electricity to power the tuk-tuk.

The rickshaw can move at least 10 mph and has been out on a road tour, a so-called Tour de Tuk Tuk, stopping in zoos in Colorado Springs, Albuquerque, and Phoenix.

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