The vehicle is a replica from the 1989 Batman movie directed by Tim Burton and has a top speed of 185 MPH! It only took Putsch 5 months to build the car using military surplus and race car parts.
Casey told Discovery, “What kid doesn’t like the Batmobile? As an adult, it is now the ideal of Batman that I especially appreciate. Those things combined with my ability to create and my desire for a challenge are what led to this creation.”
The turbine engine is military grade and made by Boeing. It was reclaimed from a Navy drone helicopter that dropped torpedoes on enemy submarines. The turbine drives the car’s rear wheels via a semi-automatic transmission.
Putsch says “I can build you almost anything”. And I don’t think he’s joking. He’s taught himself how to rebuild the turbine engine.
I am placing my order for Wonder Woman’s invisible jet today!
Having a real-life Batmobile in your driveway sounds like a fun idea. Upon closer inspection, however, it's not going to be that exciting. Most often, Batmobile replicas are powered by something like a junkyard-salvaged General Motors 350, featuring an interior reminiscent of a hastily cobbled together 24 Hours of LeMons racer. A man by the name of Casey Putsch decided he wanted a Batmobile to call his own, but he wasn't ready to settle for second-rate.
This particular Putsch is the same man behind Putsch Racing, an outfit that restores, designs and appraises all manner of items automotive. When we said that Casey Putsch wasn't going to settle for a low-rent Batmobile, we meant it. Instead, Putsch has assembled what he says is the only turbine-powered Batmobile in the world.
Under the long hood of Putsch's Batmobile sits a Boeing turboshaft engine plucked from a naval drone helicopter. The power output is rated at 385 horses, which is good for a vehicle that weighs around 2,800 pounds.
Besides the engine upgrade, this Batmobile has an interior that would make Bruce Wayne nod approvingly. That's all you can hope for really, since it's impossible to make Mr. Wayne jealous. Putsch strapped an Apple iPad into the center stack of his super(hero)car, which then acts as his avionics system and also supplies GPS information.
Drive-ins are not as ubiquitous on the American landscape as they once were. Whether sitting outside in lawn chairs, or inside with the windows rolled down, at the drive-in you get to experience movies on a big screen without being crammed into a multiplex theater with a sticky floor.
I can say without equivocation that drive-ins are my favorite way to go see a movie — though, perhaps, not always the greenest. That is, unless you happen by the Harvest Moon Holiday Twin Drive-In in Gibson City, Illinois, where the owners just installed two small wind turbines on the premises that they hope will ultimately produce 100% of the theater’s electricity.
The Harvest Moon’s owner, Mike Harroun expects the small wind turbines to initially cut his costs by 30 percent, but that is only in the first year. Eventually, Harroun hopes the turbines will provide all of the drive-in’s power.
Even though the strongest winds hit Gibson City in the winter, when the Harvest Moon is closed, Harroun is able to take advantage of his utility’s net-metering program by banking the energy he produces in the winter to count against the energy he consumes in the summer. With a consistent 12-15 mph winter breeze, Harroun’s goal of being 100% wind-powered is definitely achievable.
The turbines, a Skystream 3.7 horizontal-axis wind turbine (pictured right) and a Mariah Power Windspire vertical-axis turbine (left) both begin generating power at lower wind-speeds, making them ideal for many applications. Both turbines were also on display on the National Mall and feeding to the Washington D.C. grid during President Obama’s inauguration in January.
The Harrouns hope not only to slash the theater’s rising costs, but also pass savings along via stabilized ticket and concessions prices. “I don’t know why no one else has thought of this before,” Harroun told the Chicago Tribune.
The Harvest Moon in Gibson City is about 30 miles north of Champaign and is the only drive-in in east-central Illinois.
The boat is made up of about 16,000 plastic bottles and is an “effort to raise awareness of the recycling of plastic bottles, which he says are a symbol of global waste.” says Rothschild. Skin-like panels made from recycled PET, a woven plastic fabric, will cover the hulls and a watertight cabin, which sleeps four. Only about 10 percent of the Plastiki will be made from new materials.
Two wind turbines and an array of solar panels will charge a bank of 12-volt batteries, which will power several onboard laptop computers, a GPS and SAT phone.
He went on to say, “It’s all sail power. The idea is to put no kind of pollution back into the atmosphere, or into our oceans for that matter, so everything on the boat will be composted. Everything will be recycled. Even the vessel is going to end up being recycled when we finish.”
While as noble as that sounds, I can’t help but think that if this boat makes it…it will be on display for quite sometime. Maybe never recycled?
The plastic sailboat is taking shape in an old pier building not far from this city’s famous Fisherman’s Wharf. Here, thousands of two-liter soda bottles are being stripped of their labels, washed, filled with dry-ice powder and then resealed. The dry ice sublimates into carbon dioxide gas and pressurizes the bottle, making it rigid.
De Rothschild is something of an adventure nut himself. He is one of only several dozen people to traverse both the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps. In 2005 he founded Adventure Ecology, an organization that uses field expeditions to call attention to environmental issues.
According to Adventure Ecology, Fifteen billion pounds of plastic are produced annually in the U.S., but only 1 billion pounds are recycled. A lot of the bottles that aren’t repurposed end up end floating out to sea. The Great Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, where ocean currents shepherd much of this debris, is twice the size of Texas.
De Rothschild’s vessel is scheduled to set sail from San Francisco in April. The crew is made up of three sailors and one scientist. The Plastiki is expected to stop in Hawaii, Tuvalu and Fiji on its way to Sydney, a trip estimated to take more than 100 days.
I hope they are more successful than those paper boat people. I mean, c’mon…paper?
Not to be mistaken for a solar powered desk fan (which is what I thought it was), the crafty Kenisis K2 is a solar and wind powered 2-in-1 charger for all your USB needs.
It can power a typical cell phone 5-times over on a full charge! Um, where do I sign up?
And while it’s designed to harvest the power of nature, it’s also quite practical. It also includes an AC adapter for when Mother Nature isn’t cooperating.
You can stand the device up or hang it from your bike. I like that idea since I sit next to a big sunny window at work - though I wish the wind turbine would also operate as a fan.
The device is expected to run for about $100. Engadget has a nice video of the device from CES here. LED indicators let you know how much juice the device has, and it has internal storage for multiple adapter tips.
We’ve written about vertical axis wind turbine company Helix Wind before at Green Options. In addition to being quiet, solid, and easy to place in urban areas, the company’s turbine is also aesthetically attractive. And if pictures don’t convince you, maybe a video of the turbine in action will.
.
All you art collectors out there. Here is a chance to get a Giclee copy of some of Ian M Sherwin work. Ian is planning on doing a whole series of Marblehead, Massachusetts paintings. His work is amazing.
.
Posts
