UK gets its first human, food waste powered bus

The "poo bus". OK, cue all dirty jokes and puns you might have been inspired to make from this, but this is a rather serious endeavor, but one that will still have some people raising their eyebrows or twitching their noses at the idea. Over at Bristol in the United Kingdom, water supplier Wessex Water has unveiled a bus that uses waste, both from humans and our leftovers, to power an eco-friendly bus. Provided people would actually want to ride on a thing they know is fueled in that manner.

Bio-Bus is its less scandalous name and is just one of the latest applications of so called fuel alternatives. The bus takes the bio-methane gas produced not just my manure but also by our own leftovers and food waste to power a 40-seater shuttle bus traveling up to 300 kilometers. That is, on a full tank of gas. Several establishments in the UK have also gone the green route, Sainsbury's Cannock branch which uses wasted foods from its shelves to supply its energy needs. This time however, it is the route itself that will be going green.

The bus will be operated by Bath Bus Company, who is quite optimistic about the prospect. It expects that 10,000 passengers will be making use of the bus in just a month, as the A4 service makes its way to and from the airport as well as local journeys across Saltford, Keynsham, Brislington, Knowle and Hengrove. But perhaps they might want to change the bus' paintings first. It does make an impression and a statement, but might also leave some people a bit uneasy.

All kidding aside, however, biofuel is undoubtedly a serious alternative that people today should be well aware of and prepared to embrace. Despite the stigma that the name "poo bus" might bring, there will be nothing gross about the gas (no pun intended) used for fuel. The bio-methane product is produced by Wessex Water's GENeco sewage treatment and, of course, will not have traces of the original waste. GENeco has also started injecting such gases into the country's gas grid network this week, the first company to do so in the UK.

SOURCE: Wessex Water

VIA: Engadget