New 'bio-gas' car unveiled

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: methane, car, health news

(NaturalNews) British engineers have successfully converted the fuel system of a Volkswagen Beetle to run mostly on methane "bio-gas" produced from human waste. And according to reports, the converted vehicle operates just as well as the original version.

The new vehicle still starts using regular unleaded gasoline, but then runs on methane gas. And the modified "Bio-Bug" is the first methane-powered vehicle to be released in the U.K. that operates without reduced performance.

The new Bio-Bug is capable of running on both conventional fuel and methane fuel. It has two tanks, but runs primarily on methane. If the methane tank runs out, the car will switch over to the conventional fuel tank.

According to Mohammed Saddiq of GENeco, the company that developed the original prototype, the car runs so well that people "won't know the difference."

"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," he went on to say further.

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of the new Bio-Bug is its efficient use of methane gas. According to a recent Telegraph article, the human waste flushed down 70 toilets is enough to power the car for roughly 10,000 miles, or the distance an average person drives in a year.

Anaerobic digestion, or the process by which biodegradable material like human waste is broken down into methane gas, has a lot of potential in sustainable energy projects, many believe.

"This is a very exciting and forward-thinking project demonstrating the myriad of benefits of anaerobic digestion," explained Lord Rupert Redesdale, chairman of The Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/792...