First Poo Bus Powered from Sewage Treatment
Travelling up to 180 miles on one tank of gas, the UK’s first Poo Bus has taken to the road today powered entirely by bio-methane gas produced from sewage and food waste.
Passengers Provide Poo
The bus will shuttle passengers between Bristol airport and the city centre.
The Bath Bus Company has said that it is delighted to be using the Poo Bus for its service between Bath and Bristol City Airport. It anticipates that up to 10,000 passengers will travel on the A4 service each month.
The Poo Bus is powered from sewage produced by people living in the local area including some passengers who use the service.
Scania, who manufacture the bus, have given their backing to the Bath Bus Company for the Poo Bus.
As Bristol is about to become the European Green Capital next month, the choice of this route is particularly pertinent as it will focus attention on the role the bus plays in helping to improve air quality as well as provide energy from the treatment of sewage from people living in the local area. The emissions produced by the bus are cleaner than traditional diesel engines.
Sewage Treatment
The bio-methane is being produced by Bristol sewage treatment works, which is owned by GENeco. The company is the first in the UK to inject the gas from sewage treatment into the national gas grid network.
The plant produces 17 million cubic litres of bio-methane from the collection and treatment of sewage each year. This includes sewage collected from septic tanks and cesspits. The plant also processes food waste from homeowners, supermarkets and food manufacturers enabling it to provide energy for over 8000 homes.
This new initiative clearly shows that human poo and food that is unsuitable for human consumption are valuable resources and should not be wasted by disposal in landfill or by incineration. Many councils from regions in the UK now provide separate collections for food waste.
GENeco is at the forefront of this new technology and powered the first Poo Car fueled on bio-methane produced from sewage back in 2010.