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First biogas buses hit Dutch streets
Although common in other European countries, the use of biogas for public transport is a new phenomenon in the Netherlands. Groningen and Leiden are the nation’s first cities to release biogas buses into the wild.
Groningen presented the first ten of an envisioned 250 biogas buses, and Leiden's municipal parking shuttle service introduced one "green gas bus."
Green gas capital
The organisations behind the Groningen biogas
project include energy company Essent, transportation company Arriva, the Groningen Municipality and Province, and the Energy Valley
Groningen biogas bus. Source: Groningen geeft groen gas
Foundation, an organisation that aims to strengthen the northern Netherlands’ economy and stimulate employment through concentrating on and supporting energy-related activities. The participating organisations hope to demonstrate that driving on "green gas" is a sustainable and viable alternative to fossil fuels.
While the biogas required in Groningen is produced from domestic biowaste, Leiden's biogas will be produced from sewage sludge.
Promising, but...
Although promising, it has yet to be seen whether the use of biogas for transportation purposes will receive enough support, particularly from the Dutch Government. Its current tax regime makes it more attractive to use biogas to generate electricity, rather than upgrading it to natural gas quality for use in the transportation sector.
More information can be found at:
- Grongingen green gas website:
Groningen geeft groen gas (Dutch)
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