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I see lots of potential wrt the prodigious amounts of manure that would be produced!  ;-P

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On Sat, 10/3/15, Richard Aiken <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:

 Subject: [TML] Off-Topic: Modern Hippomobile
 To: "tml" <xxxxxx@simplelists.com>
 Date: Saturday, October 3, 2015, 5:45 PM

 Some guy in Iran
 built a modern working prototype of such a vehicle, using an
 electric generator to turn the power of a horse walking on
 what is essentially an exercise treadmill into motive power
 for a (rather crude) automobile . . .
 http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/aug/17/horse-powered-car-iran

 It occurs to me that given an area with a lot of
 existing horse stables and a better design - one
 incorporating a lithium battery bank and/or a large flywheel
 (so the horses can keep a steady pace even while stopped at
 intersections and loading/unloading) - this could actually
 be a viable way to power a commuter bus. Of course, such a
 bus would need to be a double-decker, with the horses on the
 lower deck (in walk-through stalls perpendicular to the axis
 of movement) and passengers on the upper deck.
 But it would be doable. And you could even cover
 the horse level with those one-way paint schemes that some
 buses use, except reversed: this would let the horses be
 seen (to attract both ridership and increased viewership for
 the ads covering the passenger deck exterior) but keep
 *them* from seeing out and thus undisturbed by
 traffic.  --
 Richard Aiken

 "Never insult anyone by accident."  Robert A.
 Heinlein"A word to the wise ain't
 necessary -- it's the stupid ones that need the
 advice." - Bill Cosby"We know a little
 about a lot of things; just enough to make us
 dangerous." Dean Winchester

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