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'Poo bus' set for passenger service
Number two bus route: plans are to expand the bio-buses into areas with poor air quality. Photograph: PA
Number two bus route: plans are to expand the bio-buses into areas with poor air quality. Photograph: PA

Plans for more poo-powered buses to hit Bristol and Bath

This article is more than 8 years old

Wessex Bus, First West of England and GENeco have submitted bids to low-emission vehicle grants scheme for more bio-buses

Dozens of “number two” buses – powered entirely by gas generated from sewage – could be picking up passengers in Bristol next year.

Wessex Bus is hoping to run a 20-strong fleet in Bristol, while a rival operator, First West of England, is looking to bring 110 poo-powered doubledeckers to the city.

The announcements come after the UK’s first bio-bus, powered by methane gas extracted from human waste, began services last year on the appropriately named number two route.

The poo-bus technology was developed by the waste energy company, GENeco, a subsidiary of Wessex Water, which is working in partnership with the Wessex Bus project. Wessex Bus and GENeco and First West of England have submitted bids to the Office for Low Emission Vehicles for grants to support the schemes.

Under the Wessex Bus plan, 10 bio-buses will be operating in Bristol next year and another 10 will be on the streets by 2019.

First West of England is working with South Gloucestershire, Bristol City, Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset councils to bring 110 doubledecker bio-buses to Bristol. If successful, 40% of the operator’s fleet would be low emission and would run on routes where there is lower air quality.

Antony Goozee, the commercial director of Wessex Bus, said: “This is a great opportunity to increase the number of gas-powered buses on the streets of Bristol and surrounding area, which will significantly improve air quality. We believe this would be the most sustainably fuelled fleet in the UK, as it will be the only fleet where the buses are powered by the treatment of sewage and inedible food waste from the local community.”

The bid would mean building a refuelling station at the sewage treatment works in Avonmouth. Mohammed Saddiq, the managing director of GENeco, said: “Our plans are for the buses to run in areas of Bristol and Bath that have the poorest air quality. It would significantly cut emissions harmful to human health and because the buses will run on gas from renewable sources, it means each gas bus would have an 80% less carbon footprint than a typical diesel bus.”

Saddiq said the bio-bus had attracted worldwide interest and become a focal point for visitors, overseas government officials and media who travelled to Bristol as it marked being European Green Capital 2015. “While many passengers see the fun side of the bio-bus with its eye-catching livery, it’s fair to say that people genuinely like to know that the bus is sustainably powered and better for the environment,” he said.

Jenny MacLeod, First West of England’s general manager for Bristol, said: “If we are successful we will be leading the way in creating a fully sustainable public transport network that can really make a difference to people in and around Bristol. All 110 doubledecker bio-buses will operate in Bristol, representing almost half the fleet. It will revolutionise the entire public transport network in Bristol.”

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