BRISTOL, United Kingdom — A U.K. water company unveiled a Volkswagen Beetle this week powered by methane gas that is produced by human waste.
The so-called "Bio-Bug" cruised the streets of Bristol using methane generated by the local sewage treatment facility. The waste from 70 homes can power the Bio-Bug for a year, according to Wessex Water and its subsidiary, GENeco.
The companies have for years generated biogas from sewage sludge for use in producing electricity, but sometimes ended up with a surplus. The Bristol sewage treatment facility produces about 18 million cubic meters of biogas each year.
"We decided to power a vehicle on the gas offering a sustainable alternative to using fossil fuels which we so heavily rely on in the U.K.," Mohammed Saddiq, GENeco's general manager, said in a statement. "If you were to drive the car you wouldn't know it was powered by biogas as it performs just like any conventional car. It is probably the most sustainable car around." 
The biogas is produced through anaerobic digestion before undergoing a second treatment to remove carbon dioxide before it can be used in vehicles. The process holds significant potential for widespread use in a way that might also curb the amount of waste sent to local landfills.
"Waste flushed down the toilets in homes in the city provides power for the Bio-Bug, but it won't be long before further energy is produced when food waste is recycled at our sewage works," Saddiq said. "It will mean that both human waste and food waste will be put to good use in a sustainable way that diverts waste from going to landfill."
Already more than 11,500 vehicles in Sweden run on sewage-generated biomethane. If the Bio-Bug test is successful, GENeco said it will explore converting some of its fleet vehicles to run on the biogas.
I wonder what this does to
I wonder what this does to the ozone layer? I'm sure Volkswagen has looked into it. Any info?
"The waste from 70 homes can
"The waste from 70 homes can power the Bio-Bug for a year"
Greener Staff is misleading... as mentioned by commenter above... please give us a time frame. 70 houses of poop for a day powers it for a year? or 70 houses of poop for a year?
Also, how many people in the house? 2? 10? Come on.... don't bullshit a bullshiter.
Hello Author of "'Bio-Bug'
Hello Author of "'Bio-Bug' Taps the Power of Human Waste"
You wrote:
"The waste from 70 homes can power the Bio-Bug for a year,"
This statement needs to be qualified with a given period of time period in which the waste is to be collected from the 70 houses. One has to assume the waste from 70 homes would power the bug for more than a year if it keeps being used for the same use in subsequent years. It reads very poorly as you have written it now.
One way that you could convert the statement to correct the problem if I understand volume of methane correctly is:
The waste from 70 houses can power the Bio-bug indefinitely if the bug travels what an average auto travels in a year.
You wont see anything like
You wont see anything like this in the USA, because the teapartiers and their corporate masters cant have renewable energy that cuts down on pollution - its against everything they stand for!