This sewage car’s not to be sniffed at, either

THE ‘bio-bug’ Volkswagen Beetle developed by Wessex Water subsidiary Geneco, pictured left, runs on human waste.

The gases produced from sewage that has been flushed down the toilets of 70 homes offer enough power to keep this vehicle motoring for 10,000 miles a year.

Tapping into a Bristol sewage treatment works, the car runs on ‘biomethane’ created from micro-organisms that break down excrement in an oxygenstarved tank.

Motorists at the sewage works plug a line into a gas canister stored in the car boot.

It takes two minutes to fill up sufficient fuel for 230 miles of motoring. Once it runs out, the car automatically switches to petrol.

The gas is odourless with no unpleasant exhaust fumes.

The vehicle was adapted to run on sewage a decade ago as an experiment – and inspired Bristol City Council to adopt the technology for a fleet of 100 biomethane gas-propelled ‘bio-buses’ that serve the local area – and are powered by sewage.