The BioBus is the first UK bus powered on gas generated from recycling food waste and treating sewage.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions.
1 How much food is wasted in British households every year?
2 How many homes benefit from the biomethane generated in the Bristol plant?
3 What breaks down food waste to produce biogas?
4 What can biomethane generate?
5 Where is the fuel stored on the Bio-Bus?
6 How much food and sewage waste is necessary for a return journey Bath to Bristol?
Ooh! Hello. Not everything we flush goes to waste. For quite a while now, energy's been produced from sewage, but there is another source of renewable energy that's right under our noses.
Every year, around 7 million tons of food waste is thrown away by households in the UK, and that contains a lot of potential energy. But what happens to our scraps once we throw them in the food waste bin?
The gas-to-grid plant at Bristol sewage works is the first and largest of its kind in the UK. It uses both food waste and sewage to produce enough biomethane to supply 8,300 homes every day. And biomethane is produced by anaerobic digestion. It's a completely natural process. It's very similar to our own digestive system.
Microorganisms break down food waste, and as they do that, they produce biogas. And biogas can be collected and purified, and it turns into biomethane. And biomethane can be used to generate electricity, to generate heat, and it can even be used to fuel vehicles.
This is the GENeco Bio-Bus, and it's powered entirely by biofuel from food and sewage waste stored up on the roof in dome-like tanks. On a full tank of fuel, this bus can travel about 200 miles.
The Bio-Bus is currently doing the Bath to Bristol Airport route. Now, one passenger's annual food and sewage waste should provide just enough energy for my return trip.
The use of the Bio-Bus and other gas-powered vehicles can significantly improve urban air quality.
The Bio-Bus offers the most sustainable, environmentally friendly way of traveling. I really hope it takes off.
Key:
1 7 million tons
2 8,300 every day
3 microorgamisms
4 electricity, heat, and fuel for vehicles
5 in a tank on the roof
6 the waste generated by a person in a year
