Poo-powered Bio-Bus ensures it’s a case of waste not

Geneco Bio-Bus

Something different, but it’s not as shitty as it sounds, even if the topic does involve excrement. The bus you see in the pix is called the Bio-Bus, and it’s the UK’s first public transporter to be powered by human poop and food waste, or rather the biomethane gas generated through the treatment of sewage and waste.

The Bio-Bus is operated by the Bath Bus Company and will ply the A4 service from Bath to Bristol Airport via South Bristol, and the 40-seater Scania – which has livery that is unmissable – can travel up to 300 km on a full tank of gas.

The biomethane is generated – through a process known as anaerobic digestion – at the Bristol sewage treatment works, which is run by a company called GENeco. The higher quality gas produced at the plant is injected into the national gas grid network (a first in the country, so it goes), while that which is unfit for human consumption is used to power the bus.

A full tank of gas takes the annual waste of around five people to produce. Given that the Bristol sewage treatment works processes around 75 million cubic metres of sewage waste and 35,000 tonnes of food waste a year (and generates around 17 million cubic metres of biomethane as a result of this), there should be no shortage of fuel to power the Bio-Bus. Brings a new spin to the term of not letting anything go to waste…

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • I bet the exhaust smoke will smell worse than shit

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 15
    • The Real Same LOrrr on Nov 28, 2014 at 11:29 am

      Especially when the buses use the biomethane gas produced from your waste.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 16 Thumb down 0
    • Petrofsky77 (Member) on Nov 28, 2014 at 11:47 am

      Well, at least the emissions are still cleaner than fossil fuel, and ‘dirt’ cheap too (pun intended).

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
    • Obviously (Member) on Nov 28, 2014 at 6:32 pm

      Fart and poop smells because of certain gases like ammonia and hydrogen sulfide released from your digestive tract. After processing (most significant factor) and then being burned in an internal combustion engine, I don’t think it’ll smell that much worse than any other gas-powered vehicle. Your petrol/diesel car’s exhaust might smell worse due to the trace toxic chemicals released from sometimes incomplete combustion and impurities in the fuel.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • Sardin on Nov 28, 2014 at 11:01 am

    wow…talking about innovation! but the livery on the body of the bus…does it really has to be like that?… :-) anyway, congrats UK!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Jay Jay on Nov 28, 2014 at 11:10 am

    I hope the ride isn’t crappy.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • brick on Nov 28, 2014 at 8:34 pm

    Imagine when you service it

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
  • GT3 (Member) on Nov 29, 2014 at 10:28 am

    Shitty news, literally.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Jilbaber (Member) on Dec 04, 2014 at 1:57 pm

    so we pay tambang by only shitting and farting on the seat meh ?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
 

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