Britain’s first biogas-powered double-deck bus has become a familiar sight on the streets of Sunderland, as it is undergoes a six-week trial (due to end in mid-September).

Stage Coach North East (www.stagecoachbus.com) and Scania (www.scania.com) have joined forces to test the ‘state of the art’ bus on the X24 express service, which runs from Sunderland to Newcastle.

The bus has been developed over a two-year period by Scania — the Swedish commercial-vehicle manufacturer — specifically for the UK market. With emissions of CO₂ reduced by up to 84%, the vehicle can operate on biogas created from household food waste and waste water.

Gary Chisholm, engineering director at Stagecoach North East’s Sunderland depot, said: “The company is committed to reducing its environmental impact; with 40 single-deck gas buses already in our fleet at Sunderland, this is a further demonstration of our green credentials.

“Trialling new low-emission technologies to reduce air pollution and CO₂ emissions helps us move towards our environmental goals.”

Scania has a long history of producing gas-powered vehicles for European markets, but developing a product to supply to bus operators in the UK was quite a challenge.

Mark Oliver, Scania’s UK general manager (bus and coach fleet sales), says: “Across Europe, single-deck buses with gas tanks on the roof are a common sight; for the UK, we had to accommodate the tanks within the double-decker’s bodywork.”