In Barcelona, Certain Buses Run On Biomethane Produced From Human Waste

From the French newspaper Le Monde: Odorless, quiet, sustainable. On the last day of July, passengers boarded Barcelona's V3 bus line with no idea where its fuel came from. Written in large letters on the bus facade, just below its name "Nimbus," a sign clearly stated: "This bus runs on biomethane produced from eco-factory sludge." Still, the explanation was likely too vague for most to grasp its full meaning. The moist matter from wastewater treated at the Baix Llobregat treatment plant was used to produce the biomethane. In other words: the human waste of more than 1.5 million residents of the Catalan city.

To quite "Infinity Train"

[JoshuaZ]

To quote Infinity Train: " "I bet it's a fart car." More serious comment: this is gross but obviously good from an environmental and energy use standpoint. Methane would otherwise go unused into the atmosphere where it is a really bad greenhouse gas, or just get burned off. This way it gets used.

"The buses around here ...

[cascadingstylesheet]

... are really shite!"

Thanks, I'll be here all week ... tip your waitress ...

I live in Barcelona, I'll check it out

[mwbrown42]

I usually only need to use the subway to get around the city but I'll hunt down the V3 line.

It's ok to laugh

[jacks smirking reven]

Poop is funny [youtube.com]

And why not?

[quonset]

This is a perfect use case. They run a short route inside the city. It's quieter than a standard bus and emits less heat and waste product.

The same could be said for electric buses in situations like this.

Not everything has to be converted, but where it makes sense, do it.

Re:

[algaeman]

This is nothing but a PR stunt. The plant where this was produced uses electricity. It is much more efficient and "green" to use the power there rather than having a pressurized container vehicle haul it across town to fuel this bus.

Re:And why not?

[test321]

Publicly calling attention on that it is produced from human waste is a PR stunt. But the technology itself is normal thing that is used in several places. The term is "BioNGV" and it gives several companies in Europe, with major utilities injecting such gas into the network and supplying it to buses in several cities in Europe.

Major utilities:
* GRDF (utility) https://www.grdf.fr/grdf-en/ng... [www.grdf.fr]
* TotalEnergies (6th largest oil company in the world) "Total’s ambition to become a European leader in the distribution of NGV and bio-NGV" https://totalenergies.com/news... [totalenergies.com]

Small companies / local initiatives
* Terega https://www.terega.fr/en/gas-f... [terega.fr]
* Prodeval https://www.prodeval.com/en/ng... [prodeval.com]
* Evergaz https://evergaz.com/en/biogas-... [evergaz.com]
* Natran https://www.natrangroupe.com/e... [natrangroupe.com]

Professional associations
* The Biogas association (now wants to apply this tech to trains) https://www.europeanbiogas.eu/... [europeanbiogas.eu]

Re:

[thegarbz]

Publicly calling attention on that it is produced from human waste is a PR stunt.

It is not. Methane released during anerobic digestion of sludge in wastewater treatment plants is a significant source of global warming emissions.

A US example

[grahamsz]

Longmont, CO uses the methane from their waste treatment plant to power most of their garbage trucks [longmontcolorado.gov] (and has done since 2019)

For a while the trucks drove around with "Powered by YOU!" banners on the side - they seem to have dropped that branding campaign

Re:

[grahamsz]

Also it cost about $5.2M to build the plant, and it saves about $300k in annual fuel costs. The city got various grants to reduce their initial outlay, but it's a pretty long breakeven (plus they needed to replace the trucks with LNG variants, though I believe that they were already due for replacement anyway) Certainly it seems amazingly wasteful to just flare the methane from wastewater and landfill facilities, but maybe if we captures it at a larger scale the costs for that equipment would fall.

Re:

[thegarbz]

That is a one dimensional take. Not everything is about being completely perfectly efficient and green from a propulsion point of view. This solves multiple problems.

a) Electricity use isn't bad. It can be 100% green even if the producing plant uses electricity.
b) That plant is running regardless, and critically it is producing methane. Anerobic digestion at wastewater treatment plants does that. Burning it off is far better than not burning it off and releasing methane to the atmosphere.
c) If you *HAVE* to

There's no residue of its origin

[belmolis]

Its just CH4. Unless it has somehow been contaminated, there is no trace of its origin. Without knowing its history, there's no way to tell whether it came from human waste, animal waste, the breakup of organic matter at high temperature and pressure in sedimentary basins, respiration by anaerobic bacteria, or synthetic hydrogenation of carbon monoxide.

Re:

[groobly]

Well, probably not exactly true, because the relative abundance of different carbon isotopes can vary depending on the source.

Re:

[belmolis]

Okay, fair point. But the ratio of C12 to C13 doesn't make one source ickier than another. There's no odor or bacteria or anything like that left.

Re:

[algaeman]

There are lots of other gases produced during decomposition, particularly hydrogen sulfide. This needs to be scrubbed before it is used in an engine.

Re:

[belmolis]

Precisely. By the time the methane is ready for use as fuel, the other components of initial product have been removed.

Re:

[thegarbz]

respiration by anaerobic bacteria

That's where it came from. That's how waste treatment works.

A more appropriate location?

[SIGBUS]

That would be Locarno, Switzerland, whose transport agency is known as Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi.

No $hit!

[fjo3]

This a truly poomendous achievement. The #2 most impressive use of human feces I've ever heard of, behind only Mr. Hankey.

Re:

[Tony Isaac]

Actually, it literally *is* $hit!

Shit-run buses run rampand in the EU

[nospam007]

There are several examples of wastewater recycling plants in Europe that produce biogas to power buses and other vehicles.
This is a growing trend, as it's a key part of the "circular economy," turning a waste product into a valuable resource.

Here are some specific examples:

        Barcelona, Spain: The city has been exploring and implementing projects to use biomethane derived from sewage sludge to fuel its public bus fleet. The LIFE NIMBUS project is a notable initiative that has a plant to produce biomethane from wastewater sludge to power a bus, with plans for a larger-scale rollout.

Linköping, Sweden: This city is a pioneer in the field. All of its urban buses run on biomethane produced from agricultural waste and sewage sludge. This has led to a significant reduction in emissions and has also extended to taxis, trucks, and other municipal vehicles.

Vaasa, Finland: In 2017, the city of Vaasa introduced a fleet of new biogas-fueled buses. The biogas is produced from local household waste and wastewater at a treatment plant.

Nottingham, UK: Nottingham City Transport operates a large fleet of double-decker buses that run on biomethane. This fuel is produced from waste, including household waste and wastewater.

Pamplona, Spain: In 2022, Pamplona became the first city in Spain to operate a 100% renewable gas-powered urban fleet, with the biomethane coming from sewage sludge and organic waste.

Flixbus (Europe-wide): The long-distance coach company Flixbus has launched biogas coaches on routes between Stockholm and Oslo and Amsterdam and Brussels. The biogas for the Amsterdam-Brussels route is sourced from municipal sewage sludge in Amsterdam.

State of the fart technology ...

[ElRabbit]

... but scarcity is a problem if nobody gives a shit

could use cruise ship effluent

[david.emery]

Barcelona could look at using the effluent pumped from those massive cruise ships that invade the city. That would go a little way towards balancing the impact of those ships. I've been in Barcelona and Venice when a cruise ship pulls in and dumps thousands of passengers into the downtown area. It's not pretty, and that's before considering the bad behavior I've seen from some of those passengers.

Mmm...

[smithmc]

...smells like paella!

Re:

[Tirs]

Just a side note FYI: In Barcelona only tourists eat paella. And it usually is fast-food paella, which tastes awful and is likely to give you an intestinal storm. Oh, wait, the bus company must be behind... Bus-Paella conspiracy, anyone?

Donâ(TM)t let it go to waste

[ziggy182]

Forgive the pun but they shouldnâ(TM)t let it go to waste, there is a town council in England, that runs heat pipes around crematorium furnace, to help heat the local swimming bath!

That stinks

[Tony Isaac]

There might be a good side to this though...if you've got to fart, you can let it rip and nobody will notice!

Re:

[Gilmoure]

The *DING* from the autobus seat absorbtion system crediting your ride acount might let folks around you know what's up.

Not too shitty of an idea

[bubblyceiling]

I have always wondered why this hasn't got much use. We have an unending supply of the "raw materials". The gas transport, handling & energy generation infrastructure is in place for other gasses. Couldn't we just modify it all to accept methane?

It's About Time

[Gilmoure]

Where's the villain focused movie on the guy trying to corner the world's waste biomethane production?

The phrase the bus driver hears the most

[hcs_$reboot]

"What's that smell?"