Who Gives A Chip About Global Warming

bristol | the environment | opinion/analysis Friday July 03, 2009 14:58 by Marius Goubert - Guide2Bristol rudy at guide2bristol dot com

First Bus in Bristol think they do.

How can Bristol get on the green transport wagon? One innovative new scheme being piloted by the First bus company throughout Bristol may have the answer. Dubbed ‘The Chipper', a single decked 1998 Dennis dart bus has been designed to run on waste oil left over from fish and chip restaurants.

Climate change and the environment are never far from the headlines, even in times of financial constraint. With global warming raising sea levels and huge slabs of ice the size of Manhattan breaking off from the arctic shelf, it seems that in a few years we will all be living like Kevin Costner in Waterworld. So what can be done short of chaining ourselves to the wheels of planes at Heathrow, praying for Captain Planet to take pollution down to zero, or simply facing the fact we all might have to sprout gills and evolve into fish?

One innovative new scheme being piloted by the First bus company throughout Bristol may have the answer. Dubbed ‘The Chipper', a single decked 1998 Dennis dart bus has been designed to run on waste oil left over from fish and chip restaurants. Mckeown - a company which recently won a Sustainable Energy business award - have developed an ingenious way of bonding particular chemicals with the waste oils in order to produce biodiesel capable of running buses.

This bizarre six month trial will see the Chipper traversing the No.73 route through Bristol city centre, passing many of the restaurants whose donation of fatty food oils allow it to run. These include ‘The Bishopston Fish Bar, ‘Taohs Pan Asian' and First's very own canteen, whose logos can be seen covering the Chipper as it makes its way through the city centre. Not only will the Chipper be virtually carbon free, but the amount of carbon monoxide produced when the biodiesel is burnt is hoped to be significantly lower than conventional fuels.

The results of the scheme will be closely monitored by bosses at First, who are confident that this form of low emission biodiesel will have much less of an environmental impact than traditional fuels, and help reduce the company's carbon footprint. If successful, it is possible that one day an entire fleet of Chippers might be seen winding their way through Bristol's streets - their exhausts no longer belching out black smoke, but instead giving off a comforting chippy aroma to bystanders and following cars.

However the Chipper does require a very substantial amount of waste oil to keep itself going - approximately six hundred litres of the bio diesel per week. So for all those environmentally - conscious residents of Bristol out there forget chaining yourself to railings or marching on Whitehall; simply ordering as many fatty takeaways as possibly means you really are doing your bit to stop climate change. Whoever thought going green could be so delicious? First is even calling on people to donate left over cooking fat from their home to local recycling centres to help keep the Chipper topped up with its eco - friendly fuel...

The full story on 'The Chipper' can be found by following the link.