UK Launches First Clean, Biomethane Gas Bus
A group made up of many low carbon experts at the University of East Anglia (UEA) recently launched the first bus in the United Kingdom to run on clean, biomethane gas. The advanced dual-fuel diesel-biomethane powered bus will bring down pollutant emissions and greenhouse gas discharges by approximately a half. It is hoped the technology will be rolled out to bus fleets across the nation and further abroad. Read more about Market Potential of Biodiesel
The group behind the new bus is chaired by UEA’s Low Carbon Innovation Centre (LCIC) and includes leading freelance bus operator Anglian Bus, bus maker Optare plc, and engine conversion specialists Hardstaff Group of Nottingham.
The dual-fuel vehicle is a standard Optare Solo single-deck diesel minibus from the Anglian Bus fleet. Originally powered altogether by diesel engine, the Mercedes-Benz engine has been adjusted to work for 60-80 percentage of the time on clean, low-carbon biomethane.
Biomethane is chemically indistinguishable to the methane in natural gas but it is made by bacterial action on biowastes. Biomethane is pulled out from landfill sites or from biogas produced in purpose-made anaerobic digestion installations. Project leader Dr Bruce Tofield, of UEA’s Low Carbon Innovation Centre, said: “Dual-fuel use is a very appealing alternative. The vehicle can still run on diesel, providing flexibility, but most of the time is running on biomethane gas which is a much cleaner and less contaminating fuel.”
Financial backing for the project came partially from an EU-sponsored Civitas plan in which UEA and Anglian Bus were collaborators with Norwich, Norfolk County Council and cities across Europe. The Civitas Initiative exists to promote cleaner and improved transportation in Europe’s cities.
LCIC scientists have been supervising air contamination in Norwich since 2005 as part of the Civitas program. In Norwich, as in many UK cities, discharges from buses are of exceptional worry. They acknowledged how the buses in Malmo in Sweden, a partner city in the Civitas plan, were powered by clean natural gas (methane), resultant in substantially more modest degrees of noxious emissions. Of particular concern was the fact that Malmo was starting to utilize biomethane instead of natural gas to bring down greenhouse gas emissions as well as pollutant discharges.
Advantages of utilizing biomethane as a fuel include:
- A decrease in particulate matter and NOx discharges degrees of approximately half as compared with diesel leading to clearer air in towns and cities.
- Decreased operating expenses on a price per mile foundation
A decrease in greenhouse gas emissions of approximately half as a consequence of utilizing methane from landfill sites, food and farming waste.
Substituting a whole bus fleet with fresh vehicles is exceedingly overpriced but the LCIC staff recognized that a lower-cost resolution was already at hand in the United Kingdom. Nottinghamshire engineering company Hardstaff Group are global leaders in the preparation of natural gas fueling bases and in the changeover of large vehicles to dual-fuel diesel-gas utilization. Hardstaff’s own fleet of heavy commodity vehicles, changed over to dual-fuel utilization, have now with success covered in excess of 40 million kilometers and now run on biomethane.
Working with local bus company Anglian Bus, the LCIC organized for one of Anglian’s Optare Solo buses to be changed over to dual-fuel use. The fuel tanks have been established at Optare’s Leeds plant and the engine conversion tackled at Hardstaff’s Nottinghamshire central office. Additionally, Hardstaff is furnishing a gas fueling base to Anglian Bus and will keep it furnished with biomethane.
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