A Scania biomethane bus debuts in Zaragoza

In Zaragoza, Spain, a first bus running on biomethane has begun service on the 1st December. The bus is operated by the Grupo Aragón Tours on behalf of the Consorcio de Transportes of Zaragoza’s region. It is running on the 210 regular line. Naturgy is the company responsible for supplying the biomethane through a so called virtual pipeline (i.e. transported with trucks).

Biomethane and circular economy in Zaragoza

The biomethane is produced in a Naturgy production plant in Vila Sana (Lérida) and obtained from the purification of biogas produced by the anaerobic digestion of pig slurry generated in the annexed farm. This circumstance allows a great environmental benefit by taking advantage of the waste to produce the energy that drives the bus.

With this project, the Calvera Industrial Group has set up the first virtual biomethane pipeline in Spain. Calvera’s NG TRUCK, which integrates 10 gas storage modules on a specially developed trailer, not only allows it to be stored at high pressure (250 bars) and transferred from the generation plant to the point of consumption, but also to be dispensed to the Scania vehicle that is going to use it, under the required conditions.

The Scania bus can be powered by either CNG or Biomethane and has a successful 340 HP powertrain and an automatic gearbox. The range with a full tank is about 800km, according to the Swedish producer.

Carbon foot print down by up to 83%

Scania’s new-generation CNG engines provide 50% noise reduction during operation and thanks to the implementation of biomethane, the carbon footprint can be reduced by up to 83%, according to figure highlighted by Naturgy.

Automóviles Zaragoza (Grupo Aragón Tours), the bus company that will be in charge of moving the regular line bus, will service the Consortium’s Line 210, which runs from Zaragoza to Villamayor de Gállego. The four drivers of this line, together with workshop personnel, have been trained to offer an adapted service and to obtain the maximum performance and safety of the vehicle.

“Sustainability and commitment to the environment is one of the strategic pillars of our company, and at Scania we are concerned with providing sustainable, smarter and more profitable transport for our customers’ business. This transport with biomethane opens the door to the implementation in our country of a solution that has already been developed by others in Europe for more than a decade. We are sure that this will be the first case of many,” says Manuel Arias, head of sustainability at Scania.