It is estimated that one dairy cow can produce up to 150 pounds of manure per day… So why not recycle that digested grass and put it to good use?
This is exactly what the company Reading Buses, based in the UK, has done.
The ‘Bus Hound’, the UK’s first poop-powered bus, has just set a speed record for a regular service bus with a top speed of 76.8 miles per hour (123.5kph). Powered by biomethane derived from cow manure, it is pushing the limits of sustainable technology and showing the world just what can be done with waste matter.
In good humor, the ‘Bus Hound’ (name inspired by the British Bloodhound supersonic car) is decorated with a black and white skin reminiscent of the Friesan cows used for milk production around Britain. It’s also said to sound like a Vulcan bomber.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0SLywYl_zI]
The video above shows the ‘Bus Hound’ breaking the land speed record for a regular service bus at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire. Such is a great achievement, as its oil-consuming counterparts typically max out at only 56 miles per hour (mph).
This innovative vehicle runs on biomethane produced but the anaerobic digestion of cow feces in a bioreactor. After the methane is compressed and liquified, it is stored in a series of tanks fixed to the inside of the bus’s roof.
Excited about the ‘Bus Hound’, John Bickerton told the BBC “It was an impressive sight as it swept by on the track. It sounded like a Vulcan bomber.”
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