Four city buses and around twenty Bologna taxis travel using the biomethane produced in the Hera Group plant in S. Agata Bolognese, thus contributing to the sustainable development of the city.
The initiative, carried out in collaboration with Tper (Bologna's local public transport service) and with the Bolognese taxi operator CO.TA.BO, was presented in Bologna this morning in the presence of Valentina Orioli, Councilor for the Environment of the Municipality , Cristian Fabbri, Central Market Manager Hera, Paolo Paolillo, General Manager Tper, and Marco Benni, General Manager Co.Ta.Bo.
At the same time, the new communication campaign of the multi-utility will also start, which will be exhibited on the same vehicles powered by biomethane.
The biomethane of the Hera Group, 100% renewable and certified
The biomethane produced in S. Agata Bolognese is a 100% renewable fuel, which is generated in the Herambiente plant thanks to the treatment of grass clippings, prunings and organic waste. The latter, differentiated in our homes, therefore return to the service of the community in the form of gas which, once introduced into the network, feeds public and private methane transport, helping a sector increasingly exposed to the issue of carbon dioxide emissions.
Once fully operational, the plant produces and injects 7,5 million cubic meters of biomethane into the network each year (in addition to 20 tonnes of quality compost to be used mainly for agriculture), for savings equivalent to 6.000 tonnes of petrolium.
This circular process, which starts from the daily effort of citizens for correct separate waste collection and ends up supplying the territory with a renewable fuel, has also been a transparent and certified supply chain for a few months. Indeed, every cubic meter of biomethane produced in the S. Agata plant is certified by Bureau Veritas Italia, a world leader in inspection, compliance verification and certification services, thanks to the traceability and mass balance system in agreement to the "National Scheme for the Certification of Biofuels and Bioliquids".
The image of the campaign “Organic waste becomes biomethane. Sustainable mobility is growing in Bologna”
The campaign presented this morning aims to remind everyone that circular economy and sustainable mobility are not abstract concepts, but rather can become concrete behaviors that citizens, institutions and businesses intend to promote together: acting and moving in a more sustainable way is possible, with everyone's collaboration and commitment.
The image of a girl and her yellow skateboard, combined with the claim 'Organic waste becomes biomethane', tells those who move around the city that the transport services are also powered by the biofuel produced by the Hera Group, which has always been committed to promoting greater awareness of the environmental impacts that everyone's consumption choices have. Some examples are the offers that make fully renewable energy supplies and tools for monitoring consumption available to customers, interventions at the service of public administrations, condominiums and companies to increase energy efficiency, the numerous initiatives linked to extending the life cycle of goods and, therefore, their reuse, also through the involvement of many non-profit associations.
Biomethane for citizens' mobility
To help citizens recognize and use this resource also in individual mobility, four filling stations, powered by Hera's biomethane, will be personalized with a special logo. They are located in Bologna, in via Stalingrado 71, and in Castenaso, in via del Frullo; in Imola, in via Lasie 9D; in Spilamberto in via S. Vito 329.
Biomethane also used for the movement of the Hera Group company cars
The Hera Group will also use biomethane for its travels. Many company cars circulating in the Bologna area will in fact be powered by biomethane and easily identifiable thanks to new graphics that enhance and enhance the sustainability of biofuel.
“Hera has always paid attention to the issues of sustainable mobility – says Cristian Fabbri, Hera Central Market Director -. We are promoting numerous projects, such as the agreement recently signed with Eni to transform waste oil from separate waste collection into biodiesel, the promotion of electricity with the installation of public charging stations and dedicated offers, the construction, the first utility in Italy to do so, of a plant for the production of biomethane. A sustainable mobility that often combines with the concept of circular economy, as in this case, giving life to virtuous circuits that aim to reduce waste and recover it".
“Four buses from the Tper fleet and 20 Cotabo taxis will be powered by biomethane – comments Valentina Orioli, Councilor for the Environment of the Municipality of Bologna -. You mean that all citizens who correctly differentiate between wet waste and pruning clippings, providing them correctly, contribute to creating the methane that feeds these vehicles. It is a very concrete example, which materializes what circular economy means and the contribution we can all make to the quality of the environment with very simple actions such as doing separate waste collection well".
Paolo Paolillo, General Manager of Tper, the Emilia-Romagna mobility company, underlined participation in the project as follows: "We believe in the value of this virtuous Bolognese circular economy initiative and therefore four buses in service in the city are powered by biomethane produced by Hera. This is an environmental sustainability operation that represents a further element of the strategy pursued in the renewal of the Tper fleet which sees environmentally friendly vehicles with electric, hybrid, natural gas, soon with liquid methane, and today also with short supply chain biomethane ”.
“Attention to the environment has always been our priority. Over the years we have supported our members in choosing low environmental impact vehicles, which today are about half of the total - says Riccardo Carboni, president of Cotabo -. But we didn't stop there: our new headquarters are in class A and almost completely self-sufficient from an energy point of view, thanks to a photovoltaic system installed on the roof. With these assumptions, the collaboration with Hera on the use of biomethane and on the communication of a product of the circular economy, which arises from the waste that we all produce, came naturally. It is important that citizens are increasingly aware of these processes”.
