Human Sewage to Power Buses in Norway
Free, friendly and non-fossil – biomethane from human waste will soon power public transport in Oslo, the capital city of Norway.
It is available for free in huge quantities, is not owned by Saudi Arabia and it contributes minimally towards climate change. The latest green fuel might seem like the dream answer to climate crisis, but until recently raw sewage has been seen as a waste disposal problem rather than a power source. Now Norway’s capital city is proving that its citizens can contribute to the city’s green credentials without even realising it.
In Oslo, air pollution from public and private transport has increased by approximately 10% since 2000, contributing to more than 50% of total CO2 emissions in the city. With Norway’s ambitious target of being carbon neutral by 2050 Oslo City Council began investigating alternatives to fossil fuel-powered public transport and decided on biomethane.
Biomethane is a by-product of treated sewage. Microbes break down the raw material and release the gas, which can then be used in slightly modified engines. Previously at one of the sewage plants in the city half of the gas was flared off, emitting 17,00 tonnes of CO2. From September 2009, this gas will be trapped and converted into biomethane to run 200 of the city’s public buses.
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Project leader, Ole Jakob Johansen said: “The city of Oslo has great visions for Oslo as a green capital. Oslo aims to be one of the most environmentally sustainable capitals of the world. Using biomethane makes sense. Not only would the biomethane otherwise be wasted, but the reduction in emissions per bus will go a long way to achieving our carbon-neutral target. What’s more, aside from the intial set-up costs, we expect to see an average saving of €0.40 per litre of fuel (based on an average diesel price of €0.67 per litre compared with biomethane at €0.27 per litre)”.
The city’s diesel public buses will only require minor modifications to their engines to run on methane, which is stored on tanks on top of the vehicles. The only noticeable difference will be how quietly they drive.
“Biogas is popular in Sweden, but they have very few vehicles powered by biomethane. We chose to focus on biomethane as this emits less carbon and is easier and cheaper to produce,” said Johansen.
The net emissions from a biomethane operated bus are zero, because the carbon originally came from the atmosphere rather than fossil fuels, but electricity is used at the sewage plant to convert the gas from the waste into fuel for the buses. Oslo city council is taking the electricity used to generate the fuel into consideration and calculate that carbon emissions per bus are 18 tonnes per year, a saving of 44 tonnes of C02 per bus per year.
The city’s two sewage plants have enough biomethane to provide fuel for the 80 buses, but if the trial is successful Oslo city council plans to convert all 400 of the public buses to run on biogas. The biogas will be created from a mixture of biomethane and biogas from the incineration of kitchen waste from the capital’s restaurants and domestic kitchens. Eventually, the council hopes that cars will also be able to run on biogas sourced locally from biomethane and converted kitchen waste.
What do you think? Should this be deployed more widely?
Image credit: Seansie via Flickr, under a Creative Commons license
*This article was shared with EcoWorldly by The Guardian as part of the Guardian Environment Network
Waiting for the No. 2 has never been so good.
[...] allowed to call their cars either, they’re taking this to a new level of efficiency by powering buses with biomethane produced from human waste. Presumably major energy producers will get in on the action; perhaps with BP making a big shift [...]
yes, it should be deployed and the Norwegian council should share the technology with the rest of the world by charging some amount.
I saw an old jalopy of a lorry spewing raw sewage on the road in a Nairobi neighborhood the other day. It had a message sketched on the side for those who cared to read: “Tell them even poop is money!”
Now I know it can be more than that.
Nairobi’s slums are also famous for the ‘Flying Toilets’, where residents without access to toilets or basic sanitation hurl human waste across rusty tin rooftops at night. Some Nordic inspiration?
If North Americans could follow suit, think of the many lakes and rivers and seashores that could be saved! Is there a usable residue left for gardening? Now, can we patent this methodology and give or donate it to China? India? Brazil? European cities? Cattle feeding lots? piggeries? Chicken factories? Finally, some good common sense in the world! Thank You Oslo, Norway!
This is a perfect solution. Right under our noses and everyone failed to notice it.
It is a very good idea to collect human waste as a potential fuel. Animal waste has been used this way for a long time. The problem is the collection.
I disagree about methane (CH4) not being a CO2 producer when oxidized.
CH4 + 2O2 = CO2 + 2H2O
ALL hydrocarbons produce CO2 when oxidized. Indeed, that is the problem. The only realistic solution to global warming involves the elimination of hydrocarbon fuels. Nuclear, hydroelectric, wind and solar production of electricity can theoretically power all surface transportation and all our other energy needs with electrical “filling stations” replacing the current gasoline outlets. Only the powering of aircraft will require hydrocarbon fuel at least for the immediate future.
Just some thoughts.
jadavison.wordpress.com
@davison: I agree with your statement regarding the oxidation of carbon in this cycle. However, that is not what the article says. It simply states that the carbon in this cycle came from the air not petroleum. The statement ignores the significant input of carbon from farming and transportation. Regardless of the inaccuracies the CO2 would have been input into the air anyway so the use for anything else would be a carbon neutral utilization. Now if the CH4 harvested from the bioreactors could power the infrastructure to produce it with only power input from the sun into plants that would be perfectly carbon neutral. Right now that’s a pipe dream, but I believe that this is a step in the right direction.
Peace.
If its good for Bartertown its good for us. It would do good in the U.S. cause all our politicans are full of s**t.
I think I read this case in one other article describing one of the greatest diaries in the US transforming all of their milk trucks to drive on biomethane produced from cow manure and at the same time producing electricity from the same dung for the factories..