The “Break it Down” Blog

Sweden is currently leading the charge in processing sewage, using bacteria, into methane gas that is captured from sewage processing facilities and delivered into the natural-gas grid to filling stations that biogas-enabled cars can use to fill. While other European countries are also on the biogas bandwagon, there are huge commercial backers to the ethanol idea, even though it has been proven to be an inefficient fuel both technically and push unnecessary pressures onto the world’s food supply and cost of food.

WhiIt appeared that Volvo (owned by Ford) was the leader in Sweden’s biogas market, they stopped producing the vehicles after not selling enough. Mercedes and Volkswagen are stepping this year to release new biogas models for the European market.

Original biogas car models weren’t all roses though, with complaints of poor performance in both power and miles-driven-per-tank, the revived uptake in biogas will hopefully see revised models that continue to make use of the processed sewage-based gas.

One of the most motivating factors behind processing sewage to make biogas is how completely the process breaks down otherwise useless material into usable components:

Chemically, biogas is the same as natural gas from fossil fuels, but its manufacture relies on a process where bacteria feed on fecal waste for about three weeks in an oxygen-free chamber. The result is two-thirds methane and one-third carbon dioxide, as well as a nutrient-rich residue that can be used as soil or construction material.

Let’s hope this trend continues and investors bring the effort state-side at some point.

Thanks IHT!