Skip to main content

Bus record

A methane-powered bus has set a speed record of nearly 124km/h at a test track in the UK. The bus, from the southern city of Reading, was converted to run on compressed methane from cow manure and was painted black and white like a Friesian cow. Mechanics removed the bus’s engine governor that restricted the vehicle’s speed to 90km/h. The bus then broke the record on the banked high-speed circuit at Millbrook Proving Ground, near the city of Bedford. The cow waste was broken down by anaerobic digestion to p
August 21, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
A methane-powered bus has set a speed record of nearly 124km/h at a test track in the UK. The bus, from the southern city of Reading, was converted to run on compressed methane from cow manure and was painted black and white like a Friesian cow. Mechanics removed the bus’s engine governor that restricted the vehicle’s speed to 90km/h. The bus then broke the record on the banked high-speed circuit at Millbrook Proving Ground, near the city of Bedford. The cow waste was broken down by anaerobic digestion to produce biogas, which was then liquefied and stored in several fuel tanks within the expanded roof of the bus. The bus’s speed would not be a Guinness World Record because it failed to exceed 241km/h. But the vehicle did make an appealing sound as it swept past on the track.

Related Content

  • Concrete testing - defining standards
    February 13, 2012
    Concrete is a versatile construction product, but it must be tested to make sure that it is fit for purpose
  • Learning record
    June 4, 2019
    Learning record A young driver in Germany managed to be banned from driving a mere 49 minutes after passing his test. Perhaps in jubilation at having passed the test, and no longer having to rely on his friends or ‘dad’s taxi' for transport, the 18 year-old driver inadvisedly pressed pedal to metal. Officers in the town of Hemer, near Dortmund, used a laser unit to determine the vehicle’s speed, seeing that it was travelling at 95km/h in a 50km/h zone. Perhaps he was trying to show his driving skills to hi
  • Help is on hand from Roadtec’s Guardian Telematics
    August 17, 2015
    Telematics is giving contractors a greater oversight of the location and performance of their machinery In simple terms, telematics is any integrated use of telecommunications and ICT (information and communications technology). It concerns the sending, receiving and storing of information via telecommunication devices. Typically, this is in conjunction with machine or device control and includes use of global positioning systems, or GPS.
  • All-new road markings on world’s highways
    June 28, 2013
    Road marking manufacturers have many innovative new products either currently being used on major highways or set to be made available within the next couple of years. Guy Woodford reports. Daan Roosegaarde, an artist, and Hans Goris, a manager at Dutch construction and infrastructure firm Heijmans, are developing intriguing new products for the road markings market. One innovation involves painting road markings with glow-in-the-dark paint.