A fleet of 53 double-decker buses powered by biogas created from sewage have taken to the roads in Notts.
They are designed to give a quieter, smoother ride while emitting 83 per cent less pollution than diesel buses.
Notts TV reported in May that Nottingham City Transport (NCT) paid for them with a £4.4million Government grant and £12.4million of its own money.
The vehicles are powered by biogas created from gas captured from Nottingham sewage and other waste, producing methane gas.
All 53 entered service yesterday (July 4).
Anthony Carver-Smith, NCT’s marketing manager, said: “To see our bio-gas buses finally in operation is incredibly satisfying, and to already have received such brilliant feedback from our passengers really is the icing on the cake.
“Having bio-gas powered buses on the road will help significantly towards improving our city’s air quality and will play a key role in helping Nottingham become the greenest city in the country.”
Mark Bond travelled on one of the news buses and tweeted to say: “The new buses in Nottingham feel like buses from Star Trek. They have USB ports for charging.”
The new buses in Nottingham feel like buses from Star Trek. THEY HAVE USB PORTS FOR CHARGING 👌👌👌
— Mark Bond (@Markus_Prime) July 5, 2017
Another added the buses are “very swish inside”.
NCT estimates it will save 23,204,856kg of carbon being pumped into the city’s atmosphere over the lifetime of the vehicles, compared with conventional diesel buses.
The Scania chassis for each bus was built in Leyland, Lancashire, and the body work was done by Alexander Dennis in Scotland.
Nottingham-based company Roadgas, in Colwick, supplied the fuel infrastructure which includes a refuelling plant at NCT’s Parliament Street Garage.
Road Gas produce bio-gas through anaerobic digestion of food waste, farm waste and sewage – the process of breaking down solid waste and converting it into gas.
The methane emitted from this process is turned into fuel and injected into the National Gas Grid via a pipe.
A second pipe will transport the gas to the new Parliament Street garage, from the grid, and it will be pumped into the buses each night.
