Gasrec begins trial of Liquid Biomethane fuel for ground vehicle at East Midlands Airport

In a world-first, Gasrec – the UK’s first commercial producer of Liquid Biomethane (LBM) – is entering into a six -month trial with East Midlands Airport (EMA), to run a Cobus 3000 passenger bus (which is used to transfer passengers from aircraft to the terminal building), powered by Gasrec’s LBM.

LBM is a fuel produced from decomposing organic waste which is suitable for powering a wide range of commercial vehicles. When LBM is used as a vehicle fuel to displace diesel, it can achieve up to 60 per cent reduction in CO2.

The purpose of the East Midlands Airport trial is to collect information on the potential benefits provided by LBM, namely:

1. Air quality improvement
2. CO2 emission reduction
3. Cost saving
4. Vehicle performance and driver feedback.

Information on all these areas will be recorded throughout the trial and compared to the performance of a similar vehicle fuelled with diesel.

It is expected that the trial will show significant air quality improvement and CO2 emission reduction. In a recent trial in London, Gasrec provided fuel for an Iveco Daily cage tipper (refuse collection) vehicle; the result was a 62 per cent saving in CO2 over diesel.

The trial begins on 9 November 2009 and the vehicle has been produced and adapted by Cobus, and provided to East Midlands Airport for the period of the trial by Gasrec and Cobus, with support from the airport. LBM fuel for the trial will be provided by Gasrec.

Gasrec CEO and founder Richard Lilleystone comments: “We’ve seen the positive environmental impact that LBM can deliver for our existing customers and more particularly in our trials with Iveco. Airports are tasked with reducing their carbon footprint and this is a clear step in the right direction. Businesses are now aware of the environmental and cost savings that can be made by using biomethane over diesel; and the performance improvement over using electricity. Biomethane is a waste-derived storable, transportable, B100 vehicle fuel available today.”