&EPA
www.epa.gov
science in ACTION
BUILDING A SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION FOR SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS
Bio-Methane for Transportation
GROWING AMERICA'S GREEN ECONOMY WITH RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
2007 EPA P3 Award Winner
Got manure? Is it "udderly"
fantastic?
These could become common
expressions asked when traveling by
car or bus. A team of students at
Western Washington University's
(WWU) Vehicle Research Institute
certainly hopes so. WWU won a
2007 P3 Award for converting a car
to run on biomethane supplied by a
pilot waste digester system built at a
local farm. At that time the students
had calculated that it would take the
poop from 17 cows to fill the tank
with biomethane. The P3 Award is
funding the continued research to
convert a bus to run on biomethane
as well as refinement of the fuel
conversion process.
The pilot plant collects manure at the
Vander Haak farm which is broken
down in an anaerobic digester. As
the bugs breakdown the waste,
methane and other gases are
generated. The gases are then run
through a scrubber to remove
contaminants. The clean biomethane
is collected and compressed and is
then ready to burn in a combustion
engine, where it produces about 95
percent less carbon than a
traditionally fueled engine,
according WWU. WWU
successfully teamed with Puget
Sound Clean Air Agency and
submitted an application to DOE for
stimulus funding for a number of
clean energy projects which included
WWU's biomethane process and bus
conversions. The 15 million dollar
grant includes $500,000. for WWU's
research. The additional funding
will assist with the upgrade of
WWU's biomethane refinery with
electronic controls, a larger tank
array, a refueling station, and the
conversion of three buses.
As a result of P3 and DOE stimulus
funding, next spring Whatcom
County residents could be riding a
bus powered by cow manure. Part
of the project will include the
conversion of several buses from
Bellair Charters, a local Bellingham
business.
"The buses will be converted from
diesel fuel to biomethane with
engines from Northwest Cummins
and will produce 23 times less
carbon dioxide than they did
previously and will essentially
become carbon negative once they
have the new engines installed," said
VRI Director Eric Leonhardt in a
WWU press release. "Cow manure,
a renewable resource, would
ordinarily just add its greenhouse
gases to the atmosphere." WWU
estimates that Whatcom County
alone could produce enough
biomethane to run every car, truck,
bus and piece of farm equipment in
the county.
WWU's current timeline is to have
the first of the Bellair bus
conversions in place and ready for
service for Winter Olympics in
Vancouver.
Total EPA Investment
$85,000
Return on EPA Investment
Technology demonstrated at pilot
scale. P3 Award helped leverage
additional awards. Start up company
being considered.
OTHER AWARDS
DOE Clean Cities Recovery Act Award
Athena group: The Brilliant Award
Washington State University Extension
WSU Agricultural Resource Center
Paul Allen Family Foundation
Whatcom County Public Utility District #1
BP Cherry Point
OTHER LINKS:
EPA Project reports:
http://www.epa.gov/ncer/biomethane
EPAP3site:
http://www.epa.gov/P3
CONTACT: Cynthia Nolt-Helms, EPAP3
Program Manager, (202) 343-9693
nolt-helms.cvnthia(5)epa.gov
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
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