Biomethane

Can the key to “clean” energy be found down in the sewer? That’s the idea in Oslo, where city officials soon plan to introduce buses that run on biofuels extracted from human waste. As of 2010, the new buses are due to start plying the streets of the Norwegian capital. “It’s a win-win situation: It’s carbon neutral, it hardly pollutes the environment, it’s less noisy and its endlessly renewable,” says Ole Jakob Johansen, one of the people in charge of the project at Oslo city hall. The biofuel, which is methane generated by fermenting sludge, will come from the Bekkelaget sewage treatment plant which handles waste from 250,000 city dwellers. “By going to the bathroom, a person produces the equivalent of eight litres of diesel per year. That may not seem like a lot, but multiplied by 250,000 people, that is enough to operate 80 buses for 100,000 kilometres each,” Johansen says. Compared to diesel, biomethane is a giant green step forward. In addition to being carbon neutral, it emits 78% less nitrogen oxide and 98% fewer fine particles — two causes of respiratory illnesses — and is 92% less noisy. Even the price is advantageous. All included, the cost of producing biofuel equivalent to one litre of diesel comes to 0.72 euros, while diesel at the pump in Norway currently costs more than 1.0 euro.
Will our population work to our advantage now?