The French city of Lille is to power a 100-strong bus fleet using biogas fuel made from organic household waste, thanks to a pioneering recycling plant unveiled last week.
In a project unique in Europe, the plant will supply the northern city with four million cubic meters of eco-friendly biogas per year - enough to power 100 buses - produced from food scraps, weeds, flowers and grass clippings.
It is to start supplying the city's existing fleet of natural gas-powered buses later this year, and is to be fully operational by the end of 2008, handling 108,600 tonnes of green waste per year.
PHOTO: AFP
"There is no more accomplished example of using a local resource to power a local fleet. The cycle is complete," said Eric Quiquet, an urbanism official at Lille City Hall.
France's fourth largest city, with a population of 1.1 million people, Lille has been an early adopter of green urban technologies.
Biogas, produced by decomposing organic material via a process called methanisation, emits far less carbon dioxide than traditional fossil fuels. Sweden launched the world's first biogas-fueled train in 2005.
A 150-strong bus depot has been built next to Lille's Centre for Organic Recovery to provide a direct fuel supply.
The country's only biogas fuel plant is also equipped to transfer non-recyclable waste via local waterways for incineration at a nearby energy-optimization center. (AFP)
法國里爾市將利用家庭有機廢料所製成的生質沼氣燃料,做為高達一百輛公車的動力來源,而這都得歸功於上星期揭幕的一家循環再造工廠。
這間工廠進行一項在歐洲獨一無二的計畫,每年將提供這個法國北部城市四百萬立方公尺不會破壞生態環境的生質沼氣,足以提供一百輛公車動力,這些生質沼氣是由食物殘渣、野草、花卉和雜草碎片製成的。
這家工廠今年底將開始提供燃料給市內既有的天然氣公車,並且將在二○○八年底前完全運作,每年處理十萬八千六百公噸的綠色廢料。
「沒有比利用本地資源來提供本地公車動力更有成就的例子了,這是個完整的循環,」市政府都市生活計畫官員艾瑞克.魁克說。
人口一百一十萬人的法國第四大城里爾市,一直是綠化城市科技使用的先驅。
生質沼氣是透過甲烷化程序,分解有機物質所製成的,它所釋放的二氧化碳比傳統化石燃料少了很多。瑞典在二○○五年推出了世界第一部生質沼氣燃料火車。
在里爾市有機循環再造中心旁,興建了一座可儲存足供一百五十輛公車的沼氣庫,提供直接供給燃料的服務。
這間法國唯一的生質沼氣燃料工廠也可以透過當地水路,運送無法回收的廢料到附近的能源最佳化中心進行焚化。
(法新社/翻譯:楊鴻泰)
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