The "Bus Hound", a bus owned by Reading Buses, has set a land speed record for a regular bus by reaching speeds of 77mph. This record is all the more impressive if you consider that it runs entirely on biomethane compressed natural gas produced from cow manure, making the bus carbon neutral.
The fuel is made when animal waste breaks down naturally during anaerobic digestion. This process creates biogas which is then liquefied and pumped into seven tanks fitted in the roof of the bus.
Although the bus has not set a Guinness World Record, it does showcase the potential of an environmentally friendly bus which runs on a fuel made from a source which is constantly made and which is relatively easy to collect.
Chief engineer John Bickerton of Reading Buses said, "We've laid down a challenge for other bus operators to best our record and we had to make it a bit hard for them. Most importantly we wanted to get the image of bus transport away from being dirty, smelly, and slow. We're modern, fast, and at the cutting edge of innovation."
Cedrec published a story in November 2014 (available at cedr.ec/2kb) about the Bath Bus Company which has already put into service a shuttle bus that is fuelled by human waste and food waste. Now, this latest development in buses fuelled by excrement proves that it is becoming a more and more viable option to power vehicles using natural waste.
