News / biobus
All aboard the UK’s first poo powered bus
THE UK’s first ever bus powered on food waste and human poo has taken to the roads of Bristol.
The 40-seater Bio-Bus, which runs on gas generated through the treatment of sewage and food waste, can travel up to 300km on a full tank of gas generated at Bristol sewage treatment works in Avonmouth – a plant run by GENeco, a subsidiary of Wessex Water.
GENeco general manager Mohammed Saddiq said: “Gas powered vehicles have an important role to play in improving air quality in UK cities, but the Bio-Bus goes further than that and is actually powered by people living in the local area, including quite possibly those on the bus itself.
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“Using biomethane in this way not only provides a sustainable fuel, but also reduces our reliance on traditional fossil fuels.”
The waste from five people is enough to fill-up the Bio-Bus and, using the annual waste generated from one bus load of passengers, would provide enough power for it to travel a return journey from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
Collin Field, engineering director, at Bath Bus Company, said: “Up to 10,000 passengers are expected to travel on the A4 service in a month”
He added: “The timing of this initiative could not be more appropriate as we approach 2015 when the City of Bristol itself becomes European Green Capital. With so much attention being directed towards improving air quality generally, the public reaction to the appearance of this bus on a service between a World Heritage City and an airport will further focus on the potential for this particular fuel.”
Charlotte Morton, chief executive of the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association (ADBA), said: “GENeco’s Bio-Bus is an excellent demonstration of biomethane’s unique benefits; decarbonising areas other renewables can’t reach. A home generated green gas, biomethane is capable of replacing around 10% of the UK’s domestic gas needs and is currently the only renewable fuel available for HGVs.
“The bus also clearly shows that human poo and our waste food are valuable resources. Food which is unsuitable for human consumption should be separately collected and recycled through anaerobic digestion into green gas and biofertilisers, not wasted in landfill sites or incinerators. The Bio-Bus will also help to demonstrate the true value of separate food waste collections, which are now obligatory in all other regions, to the English government.”
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