Orebro's investment in biogas and public transport

On 1 October 2009 Örebro put into action, together with local industry and farmers, several parts of a widespread scheme to increase the production and use of biogas (methane). On the same day, new buses using biogas began to appear on the streets of the town. A new and expanded bus route network will be introduced in April next year.

An investment in biogas and improved public transport provides plenty of benefits to the society, both locally and globally. Locally, it means that public transport is both cleaner and more attractive. At the same time new jobs are created as the fuel is produced locally. Among the advantages on a wider scale are lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Örebro has been delivering biogas to local companies for many years. This biogas came from the anaerobic digestion of slurry at the sewage treatment plant and from collecting gas that would otherwise have leaked out of waste depots. Since 2007 there has also been a plant that upgrades the biogas to vehicle fuel.

As of October 2009, local biogas production was quadrupled. A private company started up a new production plant which is the biggest in Sweden. This plant chiefly uses energy crops from agriculture, but manure, substandard crops, bi-products from the food manufacturing industry and wetland grass are also used. The farming industry has shown great interest in cultivating biogas crops as part of crop rotation planning. The total production capability of vehicle gas is 60 GWh from the new biogas production plant and 20 GWh from the sewage treatment plant when both are operating at full capacity. This is the equivalent of over 8 million cubic metres of vehicle gas, which replaces roughly the same number of litres of fossil fuel.

Emissions of carbon dioxide are thereby being reduced by 20,000 tons per year. Mere changing from diesel to biogas in the city's bus traffic reduces the emissions by 3,000 tons per year.The residue from the anaerobic digestion process is returned to the farmers to be used as fertiliser.

The diesel-powered city buses in Örebro were replaced with 61 new biogas-driven buses on 1 October. In addition to the overall climate benefits, the air quality in the city has improved since biogas replaced diesel and noise levels have been reduced, too. In April 2010 a new bus route network will come into force for the city buses, which will improve the level of service and increase the possibility for people to leave the car behind and use public transport instead.

A total of EUR 40 million (SEK 400 million) has been invested in the biogas production plant, the upgrading plant, pipelines, the compression station, a new bus depot and the biogas buses.