Rather than let all their sewage go to waste, the city of Oslo recently announced that it plans to cut carbon emissions by converting 80 public buses to run on biomethane generated from raw sewage. These poo-powered buses are part of the city’s plan to become carbon neutral by 2050, and stand to cut around 44 tonnes of CO2 per bus, per year.

We love seeing innovative energy solutions that make use of waste, and we’re glad to hear of Oslo’s plans to trap and transform the gas emitted from the breakdown of treated sewage into biomethane. Two sewage treatment plants will soon be outfitted with the technology, and the biomethane generated will be used to power 80 buses. The buses will be slightly modified so that their engines can run on methane, and these modifications will also have the effect of reducing noise levels as they move around in the city.

If this test is successful, the city plans to convert the rest of the buses to run on biogas, and the first buses will start running in September 2009.

Via The Guardian and Wired

Reprinted with permission from Inhabitat.