Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) together with Aigües de Barcelona and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) participate in a circular economy project whose objective is to launch a bus powered by biomethane, obtained from treated sludge and from wastewater .
This biomethane will be collected from the production plant of a production plant that has been inaugurated today in Baix Llobregat and which, through the LIFE NIMBUS project, aims to promote more sustainable transport. This fuel will reduce the carbon footprint by more than 85% thanks to its renewable nature that will be emission-free.
Today’s inauguration ceremony for the new production plant highlighted the importance of research and collaboration between different entities to find solutions that allow transport to be decarbonised. The CEO of TMB, Gerardo Lertxundi, has acknowledged that “it is a sustainable circular economy project and one to which we are totally committed”.
Lertxundi added that the intention is for this project to continue in order to use biomethane on a massive scale.
The rector of the UAB, Javier Lafuente, the project manager of Life Nimbus at CETAQUA, Oriol Casal, and the general director of Aigües de Barcelona, ??Rubén Ruiz, also participated in the event. The latter has insisted on the need to promote innovation through alliances and public-private collaboration in order to respond to the main challenges arising from the climate emergency. He has also highlighted that these projects are necessary to achieve an ecological transformation of our environment and bet on a more respectful model with the environment.
TMB is looking for biomethane production sources to power its fleet of compressed natural gas vehicles. Biomethane is obtained from biogas, which is produced from organic waste by anaerobic digesters. This makes it possible to transform waste that is difficult to treat into a perfectly usable gas to generate heat, electricity or for mobility applications. As it is organic waste, the CO2 generated is not of fossil origin, so its impact on the greenhouse effect is nil. TMB is working on decarbonizing its fleet and intends to assess the effects of using this gas on the engine of one of its buses. If the results are satisfactory, they could scale the operation to a higher volume.
Aigües de Barcelona is committed to innovation and sustainability by designing and building a biomethane production plant. This initiative seeks to reduce the environmental impact in Barcelona and promote the circular economy, as has happened at TMB in recent years.
The new treatment plant will transform wastewater sludge into fuel gas to boost green transport in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and bring the city closer to the climate neutrality proposed for 2050.
