LONDON, June 10 - A bus operator in Britain is road-testing sheep urine as a way of cutting pollution, The Guardian newspaper reported Friday.
Stagecoach has fitted a tank to a bus in Winchester, southern England, which sprays urine into the exhaust fumes to reduce nitrous oxide emissions.
The radical plan is not just woolly thinking, explained Andrew Dyer, managing director of Stagecoach South.
It is a novel way of reducing pollution, but we believe it will work,'' he said. There is nothing to worry about. We won’t be asking passengers to leave a sample and we won’t be carrying a resident sheep at the back of the bus.’’
The urine, from farmyard waste, is refined into pure urea. Ammonia in the urea converts nitrous oxides into nitrogen gas and water.
A bus rigged up with a urine tank has been carring passengers around Winchester since last month.
Dyer reckons he has nothing to be sheepish about.
I got some laughs when I told a conference in Birmingham that sheep urine could be the key to cleaner vehicles but it is becoming a reality,'' he said. This is the latest in green technology and we believe it will help make our cities better places for the public.’’