Scottish council, West Lothian (near Edinburgh), has given the green light to a local cab company to run a fleet of Toyota Prius vehicles. The decision makes Calder Cabs the first cab company in Scotland to offer the hybrid cars after the council determined that the Prius could be licensed as a private hire vehicle.

The company, which has been serving the West Lothian/Edinburgh area for three years, has purchased six Toyota Prius each equipped with a 1.5-liter petrol engine combined with an electric motor. This means it can offer CO2 emissions of just 104g/km and combined fuel economy of 65.7mpg. It also has the ability to run solely on electric power when in traffic, which is common for taxis, so that fuel consumption and local emissions are nil.

Directors Colin Paton and Andrew Liddle said: “We are pleased to be able to respond positively to calls from the Scottish Government for businesses to look at their carbon footprint and find ways to reduce this.”

Project Nomad is a mechanical horse that can ride like the wind, climb up steep grades and navigate rocks and boulders. And for energy, it uses GPS to locate the most lush vegetation, wolfing it down and using it for fuel. Somehow, that gathered energy is transformed to its rider, too.

This design concept by Jason Battersby might not be that far-fetched. In fact, that noisy mechanical BigDog and other all-terrain robots all look like a first step toward such an animalistic mechanism.

However, that idea about gathering its own energy from plants, and then feeding the rider might not be that appetizing to finicky adventurers, though.We think designer Jason should next conceive a mechanical pterodactyl that can carry a couple of passengers. Beyond that, we’re looking forward to an assortment of mechanical beasts, re-creating The Flintstones with metal and computers.