12 new biogas busses for public transportation
Chief planner Pertti Hällilä says the biogas bus project is the first of its kind in Finland.
– It significantly promotes the initialization of national clean technology in the whole area, in production, distribution as well as the traffic use of biogas. For this project we received an honourable mention from Motiva for promoting the initialization of cleantech, Hällilä sums up.
The buses produced by Scania are modern, pro-environmental and accessible.
– These 12 biogas buses can substitute an equivalent of 280 000 litres of fossil diesel fuel every year. The carbon dioxide emissions are on the same level as fully electric cars, in which the electric power is produced with wind power.
The biogas buses will be in traffic on the busiest lines, 1–4 as well as 7–10. During weekends and during the summer the biogas buses will be in traffic on all lines.
The front and middle parts of the buses are flat with no elevations, and by the middle door one can find a pull-out ramp, which can hold also heavier electric wheel chairs. – The whole door side of the bus lowers 6 cm, Hällilä describes.
The buses have 3 spaces for prams, of which one can be changed into a space for a wheel chair. – From a separate push button you can ask the driver for help. In the middle part of the bus there’s also 4 seats reserved for senior citizens, and the bus also has a space for a guide dog, Hällilä continues.
The gas buses can be recognized by the orange city silhouette of Vaasa and the theme Cleaner by biogas. The buses are numbered and marked by A1-A12.
According to Hällilä the buses have been bought to the city by a leasing contract, and the buses are owned by a finance company. After the contract runs out the city can, if it wishes, buy the buses for own ownership.
A slow fuelling station for gas buses will be opened near Stormossen. Here the buses will fill up the tanks during night time.
The organic waste of the households in the Vaasa region as well as the sludge from the waste water of Vaasan Vesi Stormossen can produce biogas for about 1000 cars in addition to the buses.
– Together with the bus refuelling station there will also be a fast fuelling station for cars, the managing director of Stormossen, Leif Åkers, tells.
Source and more information: Vaasa
