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Poo powered bus takes to the streets of Bristol

(http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/images/localworld/ugc-images/276268/Article/images/24560685/8178544-large.jpg)

FORGET about black gold - one Bristol company has come up with a way of turning the brown stuff into fuel.

Rather than drilling under the seabed for gas, or mining thousands of feet under the ground for coal, boffins have tapped into the unlikely source of energy.

The firm has turned its back on more traditional forms of power, turning instead good, old-fashioned human poo.

And to prove the point that they have the ability to turn human waste into energy the boffins at GENeco have even created a bus that runs solely on methane rather than diesel.

The 40 seater Bio-Bus might be powered by the smelly stuff but the scientists at the firm say that technology behind it will actually improve air quality.

And from this week the bus will be ferrying passengers from south Bristol to the airport.

Read more: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Poo-powered-bus-takes-streets-Bristol/story-24560685-detail/story.html#ixzz3JWqXgKrw

... the brown stuff ... the smelly stuff ...

To correct the Bristol Post, methane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane) is actually colourless and odourless.  However, don't let that mere fact spoil their journalist's story.  ::)

I went round Slough Sewage works in the 1950s and they were using Methane to fuel engines to produce electricity to power the palnt.

Nothing new under the sun!

Almost inevitably, whenever such a topic is posted, I start to get a sense that it will probably end up being moved to our 'lighter side' board.  ::) :o ;D

In ordure to get to the bottom of it, I shall dig deeper into the matter.  :-X

As Dr Spooner may or may not have said...."the shining wit on this forum never fails to astound me "........

I can't help thinking that, for completeness, they should use these for the new MetroBus services.

BBC Points West had a report on their 13:30 bulletin showing the plant at Avonmouth where the gas is collected - just as I was eating my lunch.   :(

Also, given the exterior graphics, one does wonder what type of seat is available (porcelain with sparse padding perhaps?) and if the fuel system is actually self contained?!  ;D

Somewhat surprisingly, it seems that nobody has yet asked if travelling on one of these vehicles results in motion sickness.

UK's first 'poo bus' goes into regular service

Bio-Bus fuelled by human and household waste, which first ran between Bristol and Bath, will operate 15-mile route four days a week

Britain^s first ^poo bus^, which runs on human and household waste, goes into regular service this month.

Powered by biomethane gas, the Bio-Bus will use waste from more than 32,000 households along its 15-mile route.

Operated by First West of England, the bus will fill up at a site in Avonmouth, Bristol, where sewage and inedible food waste is turned into biomethane gas.

The bus, which can seat up to 40 people, was unveiled last autumn. First is showing the bus in Bristol on Tuesday before it starts operating four days a week from 25 March.

If the scheme is successful, First will consider introducing more ^poo buses^. The managing director, James Freeman, said: ^Since its original unveiling last year, the Bio-Bus has generated worldwide attention and so it^s our great privilege to bring it to the city.

^The Bio-Bus previously made an appearance running between Bath and Bristol airport at the end of last year, but it^s only actually been used once before in the centre of Bristol itself.

^The very fact that it^s running in the city should help to open up a serious debate about how buses are best fuelled, and what is good for the environment.^

Asked about filling up the bus with the bio-fuel, a spokesman said, ...

Reading Buses 'cow poo bus' sets speed record

A bus powered by cow manure has set a land speed record for a regular bus by driving at 77mph.

Reading Buses' "Bus Hound" was recorded doing a lap speed of 76.785mph (123.57km/h) at Bedford's Millbrook Proving Ground.

It runs on biomethane compressed natural gas and is painted black and white like a Friesian cow. It normally carries passengers around Reading.

The UK Timing Association confirmed the new record.

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Trevor Duckworth, the association's chief timekeeper, said this was the first time a bus had been on Millbrook Proving Ground and described it as "quite a sight".

The bus is normally speed limited to 56mph (90km/h).

Martijn Gilbert, chief executive of Reading Buses, said it would not be recognised as a Guinness World Record unless it reached speeds above 150mph (241km/h).

'Vulcan bomber'

Chief engineer John Bickerton said the company wanted the "world's first service bus speed record" to bring to light the viability, power and credibility of buses fuelled by cow poo.

"We've laid down a challenge for other bus operators to best our record and we had to make it a bit hard for them. Most importantly we wanted to get the image of bus transport away from being dirty, smelly, and slow. We're modern, fast, and at the cutting edge of innovation. It was an impressive sight as it swept by on the track. It sounded like a Vulcan bomber - the aerodynamics aren't designed for going 80mph."

Its fuel is made from animal waste which is broken down in a process called anaerobic digestion to produce biogas, which is then liquefied, Mr Gilbert said.

It is stored in seven tanks fixed inside the roof of the bus.

The vehicle's name was inspired by the British Bloodhound super-sonic car which aims to go beyond 1,000mph in 2016.

(http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/83100000/jpg/_83100382_83100381.jpg)
The bus is painted black and white like a Friesian cow

........it was rumoured that the late Bob Crow offered to power the entire LU network via hot air!

I think that maybe we have milked this story enough now .

Bristol's 'poo bus' plan goes down the pan

Plans to roll out a fleet of "poo buses" have gone down the pan after the government turned down a funding bid.

The UK's first "Bio-Bus" launched on the number two route in Bristol, in March last year. The bus ran on gas produced by human and food waste.
Following a successful trial First Group and rival operator Wessex Bus had hoped to run fleets of bio buses.

However, the bid was rejected by The Office for Low Emission Vehicles.

The "poo bus" initiative was led by Wessex Water's renewable energy company GENeco to show how biomethane gas - produced during the treatment of sewage and organic waste - could be used as a sustainable alternative to traditional fossil fuels to power vehicles and homes.

A single passenger's annual food and sewage waste would fuel the Bio-Bus for 37 miles (60km)

First West of England had applied for a grant to run 110 gas-powered double-decker buses in Bristol.

Wessex Bus and partners GENeco had also put in a £2.5m bid to fund 20 bio-buses in the city by 2019.

The gas produced by Bristol sewage treatment works in Avonmouth, run by Wessex Water's renewable energy company GENeco, is now instead injected into the national gas network.

First Bristol confirmed that the number two "poo bus" service is no longer running.

Ian Drury, from GENeco, said while the firm was disappointed the bids were unsuccessful, the pilot project "started a global debate on how biomethane buses running on renewable sources could significantly reduce air emissions in cities around the world".

He added that more than 70 biomethane buses were given the go ahead by The Office for Low Emission Vehicles to run in other areas.

Looks like the 5h1t has hit the fan.

From the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-38000317):