Scania buses run on public waste in Spain

Spanish public bus operator Moventis TCC Pamplona has acquired 13 new gas buses from Scania. These buses will run on biomethane alone.

Moventis TCC Pamplona is part of Moventia, a family business founded in 1923, which is currently in the hands of the third generation. Since November 2009, the company has been responsible for urban transport inthe city of Pamplona and its 17 municipalities (more commonly known as Las Villavesas). Consisting of 23 urban bus lines, the service is provided via a fleet of 140 buses.

“This deal is a truly holistic initiative, to utilise local waste as a resource for sustainable transport,” says Pedro Cotera, business manager city buses at Scania. “Spain is a country with a strong agricultural and food production industry, and this is a step towards energy independence.”

Decar­bon­ising public traffic 

This purchase is a first step on Mancomunidad Comarca de Pamplona’s (MCP’s) road to decarbonising urban traffic. All public service vehicles will soon follow suit, either through electrification or by utilising locally sourced biomethane. MCP is a community of municipalities in the Pamplona metropolitan area, whose functions are water supply and sewage treatment, waste management, metropolitan public transportation, taxis, and the Arga metropolitan park.

As the biogas infrastructure has been put in place in the area, an expansion of the electric grid has simultaneously been undertaken. Preparations are ongoing, with the creation of new charging points for e-vehicles planned for the near future.

Filling around the corner

At the public announcement of the fleet renewal, Moventis TCC Pamplona also revealed a new gas supply installation next to its garages. This will allow the new biogas-powered buses to be fuelled on site. Filling will take around four minutes, giving each bus a range of about 300 km.

Ambitious environ­mental targets 

As a responsible public transportation authority, MCP has set an ambitious target to improve the overall urban environment. This includes abandoning fossil fuels in the public vehicle fleet by 2030.

The new buses are the first in Spain to meet the Euro 6E emissions standard for compressed gas vehicles (CNG). They will be powered by biomethane extracted from landfill waste in a new processing centre. In the future, sewerage will also be used as an energy source.

Biogas is an environmentally friendly, renewable energy source. It’s produced when organic matter, such as food or animal waste, is broken down by microorganisms in the absence of oxygen, in a process called anaerobic digestion. For this to take place, the waste material needs to be enclosed in an environment where there is no oxygen. Biogas can occur naturally, or as part of an industrial process to intentionally create it as a fuel.

A wide variety of waste material breaks down into biogas, including animal manure, municipal rubbish or waste, plant material, food waste, and sewerage. Biogas consists mainly of methane and carbon dioxide (CO₂), but can also include small amounts of hydrogen sulphide, siloxanes, and moisture. The relative quantities of each within the biogas will vary depending on the type of waste involved in its production.

Compared with their fossil diesel equivalents, biogas vehicles offset CO₂ emissions by up to 90%, reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 70%, and achieve a 90% reduction in particulate matter. In addition, they are 50% less noisy, greatly improving driver and passenger comfort.