Photo: SEAT
The great thing about biofuel is that it can be obtained in a variety of forms from pretty much anything, from plants to industrial waste. The tricky part is getting a car to run on biofuel and not be damaged by it over time.
A project currently unfolding in Barcelona with the backing of Spanish carmaker SEAT is called Life Methamorphosis and it's all about trash: it seeks to turn the city’s garbage into biomethane to power cars, and do so safely.
According to the people running the project, each person in the city generates 1.5 kg of waste each day, totaling 2.5 million kg. Of that huge amount of trash, only 40 percent is currently being recycled, and that’s a waste, believes the leader of the project, SEAT engineer Andrew Shepherd.
“With all the organic waste that is generated we can produce enough biomethane to power 10,000 cars to travel around 15,000 kilometers every year,” he said.
Life Methamorphosis calls for the biomethane resulted from a recycling process at one of the city’s waste treatment facilities to be used to power vehicles. And there’s nothing complicated about the idea, as refueling is done in the usual fashion and using the existing infrastructure, thanks to the biomethane's ability to use the same tanks as gasoline and even mix with it.
What is complicated is consequence. Currently, SEAT is testing biomethane of four vehicles, three Leon and one Arona models. The carmaker plans to see what the effects of biomethane on the cars’ engines will be after each would have driven 30,000 km on the substance (18,600 miles).
Should the tests be successful, the waste treatment facility has the potential to produce enough biomethane to power 3,750 SEAT Leon cars for a trip around the world each year.
Projections are that the production and use of biomethane in cars generate 80 percent fewer emissions than gasoline. And it’s also a good way for organic waste to be recycled.
According to the people running the project, each person in the city generates 1.5 kg of waste each day, totaling 2.5 million kg. Of that huge amount of trash, only 40 percent is currently being recycled, and that’s a waste, believes the leader of the project, SEAT engineer Andrew Shepherd.
“With all the organic waste that is generated we can produce enough biomethane to power 10,000 cars to travel around 15,000 kilometers every year,” he said.
Life Methamorphosis calls for the biomethane resulted from a recycling process at one of the city’s waste treatment facilities to be used to power vehicles. And there’s nothing complicated about the idea, as refueling is done in the usual fashion and using the existing infrastructure, thanks to the biomethane's ability to use the same tanks as gasoline and even mix with it.
What is complicated is consequence. Currently, SEAT is testing biomethane of four vehicles, three Leon and one Arona models. The carmaker plans to see what the effects of biomethane on the cars’ engines will be after each would have driven 30,000 km on the substance (18,600 miles).
Should the tests be successful, the waste treatment facility has the potential to produce enough biomethane to power 3,750 SEAT Leon cars for a trip around the world each year.
Projections are that the production and use of biomethane in cars generate 80 percent fewer emissions than gasoline. And it’s also a good way for organic waste to be recycled.
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