FlixBus, part of Germany-headed mobility operator FlixMobility, has announced that starting July 1, 2021, the first international biomethane-powered buses will drive between Amsterdam and Brussels and between Stockholm and Oslo.
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In road transportation applications, biomethane (aka renewable natural gas – RNG) is commonly used by city buses, cars, and light transport vehicles in its compressed form as bioCNG.
For long-distance heavy-duty transportation – both road and marine, its liquefied form, bioLNG, offers a greater range as liquefied gas is more energy-dense than compressed gas on a volume basis.
The bus between the Netherlands and Belgium will be powered by compressed gas (bioCNG) and this bus is produced by Iveco while the bus running between Sweden and Norway will be powered by liquified gas (bioLNG) and is a Scania model.
To ensure that these buses are only fueling up the most climate-friendly biogas, FlixBus partners with gas providers OrangeGas(OG) and Gasum respectively.
As the first long-distance coach powered by biogas, this is probably the most sustainable coach solution today, said Johan Ekberg, Head of Scania’s Customer Unit.
Multiple benefits
The benefits of bioLNG are many: it is fossil-free, renewable, locally produced, and reduces emissions. By switching to locally produced bioLNG as fuel in long-distance trucks or buses, operators reduce both their own and their customers’ climate impact by more than 90 percent.
Air quality, in general, is also positively affected by reduced emissions of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), and the quieter vehicles benefit both drivers, passengers, and society at large.
Biogas is not only the fuel with the lowest CO2 emissions – it also solves local waste problems, creates local jobs, and brings carbon and nutrients back to the soil. It is the Swiss Army Knife of circular economy, said Jonas Strömberg, Sustainability Director at Scania.
Greener gas grid
The availability of RNG will improve quickly throughout Europe, especially as the EU decided to make fuelling points available along main European road networks (TEN-T).
Already today, 17 percent of Europe’s gas grid is RNG, and it´s rising rapidly, actively contributing to carbon dioxide (CO2) emission cuts. In Sweden´s vehicle gas grid, the RNG share is a staggering 95 percent.
Biogas will be one of the key tools for decarbonization of heavy-duty transport – especially for long-distance operations like intercity and long-haulage. Half of Europe’s heavy-duty gas fleet could be powered by biogas in 2025, Jonas Strömberg remarked.
In order to introduce these two buses to the FlixBus fleet, the company made sure to choose routes where climate-friendly renewable biogas is already available and cooperated with Iveco and Scania on remodeling existing gas-powered bus models to offer even more comfort on its long-distance routes.
After the strenuous last 1.5 years, more and more people have started traveling again and the demand for bus travel is rising. Green tech is at the core of our business and one of our key sustainability drivers: We ensure that the resurgence of travel is sustainable, and biogas is certainly one of the most important technologies to achieve this today, said André Schwämmlein, Co-Founder and CEO of FlixMobility.
Technology agnostic
While regular FlixBuses are already the most climate-friendly means of transport in many countries, RNG offers a great chance to further reduce the CO2 footprint of collective travel.
Both technologies are available along a great part of the Company’s European routes. Its availability will improve quickly throughout Europe, especially as the EU decided to make fueling points for road fuel gas available along main European road networks (TEN-T).
From trying alternative fuels in different projects, FlixBus plans to get a better understanding of how the technologies are perceived by bus partners and customers but also explore operational constraints, advantages, and a potential impact on operational cost.
In 2018, FlixBus started piloting the world’s first all-electric long-distance buses in Germany, France, and the United States (US).
In late 2019 the company announced a collaboration with German technology company Freudenberg and its plans to build the first long-distance hydrogen bus. A bus running between London and Dortmund is equipped with solar panels that enable the bus to save around 7 percent of fuel on this route.
All FlixTrains are powered by 100 percent green electricity.
In addition, atmosfair, the climate-NGO Flix partners with for climate strategy and CO2-offsetting is involved in verifying the biogas origin and making sure Flix receives the greenest gas possible.
Their preliminary calculations indicate a CO2 reduction of around 75 percent compared to diesel operations on the routes between Amsterdam and Brussels and between Stockholm and Oslo.
Our vision is to offer sustainable mobility to everybody. That is why today, and, in the future, we will be among the first to try out new, sustainable technologies. Together with our bus-, industry- and NGO partners, we are constantly looking to further improve our CO2 footprint and continue to drive transformative change in the mobility sector via cross-sector partnerships. In order to speed up the process, we rely on political attention, investment, and the right policy incentives to develop even more alternative fuels and infrastructure, ended André Schwämmlein.
