U.K. marketNottingham to test greener buses
The City of Nottingham bought three ethanol-powered buses from Swedish company Scania for an 18 month trial; the waste-based ethanol will also come from Sweden, and will be tested against British-made sugar-based ethanol
As part of its “Declaration on Climate Change,” Nottingham City Council is set to test ethanol-powered buses from Wednesday, 2 April 2008, following an investment from East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA). The trial, which is being conducted in partnership with Nottingham City Transport (if you live in the area: The new buses will run on service 30 to Wollaton), will run for eighteen months. The trial aims to assess the technical, environmental, and business case for the use of ethanol. EMDA’s funding has purchased three Scania Omnilink vehicles which meet the highest European standard for Enhanced Environmentally-friendly Vehicles (EEV).
Early research indicates the ethanol-powered buses will reduce CO2 emissions by 30 tons per bus per year. It is also expected that there will be a reduction in nitrous oxide, as well as less particulate matter from the exhaust. The ethanol used to fuel the buses is being sourced from waste produced by Sweden’s paper and pulp industry. During the trial period, these costs will be assessed against locally grown sugar beet and wood to help determine whether in future, the ethanol could be sourced closer to Nottingham. This follows the recent opening of an ethanol production plant by British Sugar at Whissington in Norfolk, which uses locally produced excess sugar beet to generate fuel.