Cork’s first carbon-neutral bus trip
A promotional trip billed as Ireland’s first carbon-neutral bus journey took place in Cork yesterday as a bio-methane powered vehicle took passengers from the city centre to Ringaskiddy. Proponents of the biomethane buses say its fuel is renewable and results in lower carbon emissions and better air quality in cities.
The bus left Lapps Quay in Cork City and travelled to the SFI-funded Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy in Ringaskiddy, where passengers heard insights from leading gas and algal biofuels researcher Jerry D Murphy on the centre’s work.
The initiative was hosted by Energy Cork, a grouping of stakeholders including Cork city and county councils, Gas Networks Ireland, Bus Éireann and Cork Chamber. Donal Kissane, commercial manager, Gas Networks Ireland said that, unlike the diesel buses currently in operation, the bus used yesterday runs on renewable gas and its journey will have a zero carbon emissions footprint.
“Gas Networks Ireland believes that the future of public transport in Ireland will be based on renewable gas, using waste from the agriculture and food industry,” he said.
Michelle O’Sullivan, Energy Cork spokeswoman and Cork Chamber public affairs senior executive, said the demand for public transport in Cork has never been greater, with the city centre expecting an additional 10,000 jobs in the next five years. She said Energy Cork has long advocated the benefits of adopting compressed natural gas and biomethane for the public bus fleet.
“This technology is tried and tested with examples of biomethane bus fleets in Stockholm, Lille, and Nottingham to name just a few cities,” Ms O’Sullivan said. “We are very keen to see this technology supported by the National Transport Authority and hope to see these buses rolled out in Cork in the not-too-distant future.”
The Department of Transport, Tourism, and Sport has been carrying out trials of hybrid diesel, fully electric, electric hybrid, compressed natural gas and biomethane powered buses in Cork and Dublin in recent months, amid growing concerns about Ireland’s failure to meet its European-set emission targets. However, such transport alternatives are well established in other European cities. Last month, it was announced that Nottingham City Transport in the UK would more than double its fleet of biogas double deck buses this year, with an additional 67 buses to be added to the 53 already in use.
