Company Launches Bus 'Powered On Food Waste And Human Poo'

BOSTON (CBS) – There are a lot of buses around Boston – tour buses, shuttles for colleges and hospitals, and, of course, the MBTA.

They run on gas, diesel or electric power. But could the future hold something else?

A company in Great Britain claims it has launched the UK's first ever bus "to run on human and food waste."

GENeco, a waste recycling company in Bristol, England, says it's created a 40-seat Bio-Bus bus "powered on food waste and human poo."

The bus stands out on the road, but not for the smell.

It's covered with paintings of people sitting on the toilet under the slogan, "This GENeco Bio-Bus is powered by your waste for a sustainable future."

GENeco claims it "runs on gas generated through the treatment of sewage and food waste that's unfit for human consumption, helps to improve urban air quality as it produces fewer emissions than traditional diesel engines."

It can travel up to travel up to 186 miles on a full tank of gas generated at a sewage treatment plant.

According to a promotional video on YouTube, the waste is "stored up on the roof in dome-like tanks."

"Gas powered vehicles have an important role to play in improving air quality in UK cities, but the Bio-Bus goes further than that and is actually powered by people living in the local area, including quite possibly those on the bus itself," the company said in a statement on its website.

The bus's maiden voyage took tourists from Bristol Airport to Bath, England Thursday, the company said.

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