Creating sustainable vehicle fuel is rife with challenges, not least in finding the balance between developing a viable solution and putting forward ideas that have mainstream appeal: poo-powered cars sound great in theory, but, y'know...

However, students from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Team FAST, are now throwing their hats into the ring with a design for the first ever system that allows a bus to drive on formic acid. Their system, officially unveiled on 6 July, comprises an electric bus hooked up to a small trailer (nicknamed 'REX', for 'range-extender'), where formic acid is converted into electricity.