On the baaa-ses

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Embargoed until 12.01 am, 1 April 2011

On the baaa-ses

New Zealand’s largest long distance bus company looks to sheep manure to help power it in to the future

In an effort to reduce the company’s reliance on fossil fuels, New Zealand’s most comprehensive bus network, InterCity Coachlines, has today announced a world leading initiative to power its fleet of long distance buses using a commodity the country has ample supply of - sheep manure.

Developed at a secret agricultural facility over the past 7 years, InterCity has invested over $50 million in the venture, supported by the government’s Field Agricultural Research Team. InterCity CEO Malcolm Johns says it will be worth every cent. “New Zealand’s 47 million--plus sheep produce an enormous amount of “waste” and there are large amounts of gas trapped inside. Through our extensive research we’ve been able to harness this energy for a useful purpose.”

While the exact details of the project remain a closely guarded secret, Professor Bjorn Smellie from the Field Agricultural Research Team, who assisted with the project, is excited about the future benefits of the discovery. “For many years now we’ve been attempting to reduce the amount of methane released by farm animals as it is one of New Zealand’s biggest greenhouse gas contributors. This discovery has enabled us to transfer a significant amount of useful pastoral energy from the paddock to the fuel tank. It’s a double dip emission result.”

By adding a special enzyme code named “11LOOF-RPA” to the sheep’s diet, scientists have been able to reduce the amount of methane gas expelled by the animal and transfer the energy to the gut and digestive system where it is passed out as regular sheep dung. The dung is then treated to release the gas inside a commercial still which allows for the capture and liquefaction process. The liquid is then used to fuel the buses.

New Zealand’s sheep and cattle population accounts for approximately 90 per cent of the country's methane emissions, according to recent government figures. Scientists found the Romney and Drysdale sheep breeds the most responsive “producers” during the research project.

The InterCity buses need a minor adaptation to increase compression within the engine to be able to run the new fuel. InterCity has already converted five vehicles as part of the trial project and plans to complete the remainder of the fuel cell conversions on the rest of the fleet by mid-2012.

ENDS

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