Turning waste into clean transportation.
Check it out: The world’s first poo-powered bus! Engineers believe the GENeco Bio-Bus offers a sustainable alternative to public transportation. That’s because it runs on biomethane captured from the breakdown of human sewage and food waste. (Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that can also be burned for fuel.) The bus not only burns waste that would otherwise wind up in a landfill, it also releases 97% fewer pollutants than standard diesel buses do. And by using human waste as a fuel source, it eliminates the need for fossil fuels (gas and oil), which contribute to climate change.
That makes it a sustainable alternative for passengers in Bristol, UK.
The annual waste (sewage and food) from one person provides enough biomethane to power the bus for a 55 kilometer (34 mile) trip. The compressed gas is stored in tanks on top of the bus (the part painted to look like a cloudy sky). One side of the side of the bus shows people using the loo. The other shows food waste (think apple cores and banana peels) being tossed into special receptacles. GENeco makes enough biomethane from both sources each year to provide gas to 8,300 homes in addition to powering the bus.
Did you know? Cows are gassy! They produce huge amounts of methane every day. In fact, cows housed in a German barn let out so much methane, a spark blew the roof clean off!
Want to know more? Check out GENeco’s pages on the Bio-Bus and Bio-Bug.