Leeds city council has taken a pioneering step towards cutting carbon emissions on its waste collection rounds by opening a permanent biomethane fuelling station.
The Yorkshire local authority claims to be the first UK local authority to have made such a move.
Situated at the Knowsthorpe Way depot in Cross Green, the 150,000 station was officially opened last week (March 24) and is intended to provide fuel storage and refilling facilities initially for two waste collection vehicles.
Leeds hopes to eventually convert the remainder of its existing fleet to run on biomethane or use a biomethane/diesel hybrid.
The 26-tonne trucks are fitted with a purpose-built 279hp engine and special tanks to carry its compressed biogas fuel, but is otherwise similar to a standard, diesel engine truck. The vehicles are said to produce 60% less CO2 emissions and also are quieter than fossil fuel-based engine systems.
One of the vehicles will run purely on biomethane, which is a natural gas produced from the breakdown of organic matter. This includes food waste, manure and agricultural waste. The other vehicle will run on a biomethane/diesel mix.
Councillor Tom Murray, executive member for environmental services at the council, said: This is a very exciting opportunity for Leeds to be at the forefront of green technology in our region while also realising real savings in the cost of running essential vehicles.
Having this permanent biomethane fuel station in Leeds opens up all kinds of possibilities for future green improvements in how we and other organisations in the city operate our fleet.
Vehicles
The two biogas-powered Econic 2628LLG vehicles undertook a successful six-month trial before being adopted as a permanent feature on Leeds bin collection rounds.
The majority of funding for the pumps has come from Cenex the Centre for Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell technologies which is part of the Department for Transports Alternative Fuels Infrastructure grant programme.
Funding was also received from the Local Transport Fund and Leeds city council itself.
A spokeswoman for Leeds city council said it was unable to break down the proportions of biomethane drawn from food waste but confirmed that the food waste was not collected in Leeds, where food waste collections have been trialled in the Rothwell area.
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