Munich Airport’s passenger bus biogas trial recognised in awards
Munich Airport has received the Association of German Gas Industry’s Innovation Prize in the ‘Mobility & Transport’ category for testing a passenger bus using renewable fuel.
The airport conducted a pilot test, running its passenger bus on liquid methane. In future, the bus will be fuelled with biomethane.
The project was developed in cooperation with start-up company CM Fluids. As part of the promising pilot project at Munich Airport, the passenger bus, originally powered by diesel, was converted to a climate-friendly drive system using liquid methane.
With the patented drive concept, CMF Drive, the bus was equipped with a generator-electric drive. The passenger bus is powered by a combustion engine and will, in future, be fuelled with ‘regeneratively-produced biogas’. The energy generated by the engine will be temporarily stored in a buffer battery, which in turn supplies the bus’s electric drive axle with electricity.
After the successful conversion, the bus will be particularly efficient and climate-neutral when refuelled with biomethane.
Professor Dr Frank Behrendt, head of the Department of Energy Process Engineering and Conversion Technologies for Renewable Energies at the Technical University of Berlin, said: “With the conversion from diesel to biomethane, CM Fluids offers a unique solution that is both economically viable and reduces exhaust emissions to almost zero.”
“We are delighted that our commitment to sustainable airport operations has been honoured with the German gas industry’s Innovation Award,” said Jost Lammers, CEO of Flughafen München. “Here, resourceful engineers have developed a showcase project that could serve as a blueprint for many municipal transport companies.
“On the one hand, the conversion of existing vehicles is economical and saves expensive new purchases, and on the other hand, regionally produced biomethane from our surrounding area is consumed directly at the airport.”
The airport conducted a pilot test, running its passenger bus on liquid methane. In future, the bus will be fuelled with biomethane.
The project was developed in cooperation with start-up company CM Fluids. As part of the promising pilot project at Munich Airport, the passenger bus, originally powered by diesel, was converted to a climate-friendly drive system using liquid methane.
With the patented drive concept, CMF Drive, the bus was equipped with a generator-electric drive. The passenger bus is powered by a combustion engine and will, in future, be fuelled with ‘regeneratively-produced biogas’. The energy generated by the engine will be temporarily stored in a buffer battery, which in turn supplies the bus’s electric drive axle with electricity.
After the successful conversion, the bus will be particularly efficient and climate-neutral when refuelled with biomethane.
Professor Dr Frank Behrendt, head of the Department of Energy Process Engineering and Conversion Technologies for Renewable Energies at the Technical University of Berlin, said: “With the conversion from diesel to biomethane, CM Fluids offers a unique solution that is both economically viable and reduces exhaust emissions to almost zero.”
“We are delighted that our commitment to sustainable airport operations has been honoured with the German gas industry’s Innovation Award,” said Jost Lammers, CEO of Flughafen München. “Here, resourceful engineers have developed a showcase project that could serve as a blueprint for many municipal transport companies.
“On the one hand, the conversion of existing vehicles is economical and saves expensive new purchases, and on the other hand, regionally produced biomethane from our surrounding area is consumed directly at the airport.”
