There are Bugs in your Sewage, Sir!
The Bio Bug
The car runs on methane that is generated from household waste and sewage. Just 70 households are enough to supply a Bio-Bug with fuel for a whole year.
This is a joint project of University of Bath, GENeco (a division of Wessex Water), South West Regional Development agency and Greenfuel Company. Wessex Water has been producing bio-methane to power their Avonmouth site for years. However, a car needs clean stuff – that’s why the gases produced during anaerobic (no oxygen) digestion of sewage should be treated.
Some people may find the very thought of a sewage-powered car a little disturbing, however, one must remember that the actual sh*te doesn’t come near the car. It is simply methane (an odourless gaseous substance, by the way) that is extracted from household waste and sewage and then used to power the car. As far as the performance is concerned, the Bio-Bug, allegedly, is as brisk as any petrol-powered VW.
If not harnessed properly, the methane would eventually escape into the atmosphere and methane is much more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2.
Use of compressed natural gas (CNG) is nothing unusual. In Scandinavian countries it is almost as normal as driving a liquid propane (LPG) vehicle. Still, the green credentials of CNG cars is somewhat diminished by the fact that the biogas production and treatment consumes energy (in 99pc cases – energy derived from fossil fuels) and that the Bio-Bug and other bio-fuel vehicles are still internal combustion vehicles.
Don’t get me wrong, though. It is great to have the bio-gas production process developed. It keeps the methane from escaping into the atmosphere, it reduces the amount of petrol consumed and the anaerobic digestion produces extra heat that can be used to heat homes. Although CNG might not be very green, it is sustainable, as it reuses a large amount of waste material.
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