Train powered by human waste could replace city trams and help run small branch lines
Other sources of biomethane include animal manure and food leftovers
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
New lightweight trains powered by human waste could soon be running on branch lines re-opened under government plans to reverse the Beeching railway cuts.
The developers of the BioUltra want to replace trams and city trains with their more environmentally friendly design, which will run on biomethane. They are also targeting lesser-used branches of the network which have been reopened to connect smaller towns.
Biomethane is derived from several waste products, including farming crop residue, sewage sludge, animal manure and food waste, which are broken down by bacteria to produce the gas.
Its proponents say the carbon that burning biomethane releases into the atmosphere would have been emitted anyway by the natural breaking down of its components, whereas burning natural gas or other fossil fuels adds carbon to the system that had previously been contained within the earth.
Ultra Light Rail Partners, the company behind the train, has been given a £60,000 grant by the government’s Sustainable Innovation Fund.
It is now planning to develop a railcar capable of carrying 120 passengers, with a focus on Covid-19 safety. Ultraviolet lights and heavily filtered airflow will be included, according to a statement from the Black Country Chamber of Commerce.
A prototype biomethane vehicle was launched at a test facility in July.
Beverley Nielsen, the chair of Ultra Light Rail Partners, said in a statement: “This really is a vote of confidence in our business which is fully focussed on providing lightweight affordable railcar travel as a comfortable, modern, reliable and safe alternative to travelling by car.
“We want to be able to offer this option to larger towns and smaller cities around the UK so they can realistically take polluting vehicles out of their city and town centres improving quality of life for all.
"Recent monitoring by Sustainability West Midlands identified that reducing the levels of just one pollutant, PM2.5, by 50 per cent would prevent as many as 952 deaths in the West Midlands alone each year.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments