A group of enterprising engineering students has developed a process for extracting
combustible methane gas from cow manure (don’t
worry, the exhaust is odorless).With a specially adapted
internal combustion engine, the students claim that
an automobile can be propelled 15 miles per day
from the “cow gas” produced by a single cow. Their
experimental car can travel 60 miles per day for an estimated
cost of $5 (this is the allocated cost of the methane
process equipment—the cow manure is essentially
free). (2.1)
a. Howmanycows would it take to fuel 1,000,000 miles
of annual driving by a fleet of cars? What is the
annual cost?
b. How does your answer to Part (a) compare to a
gasoline-fueled car averaging 30 miles per gallon
when the cost of gasoline is $3.00 per gallon?