An environmentally-friendly biomethane gas refueling station, one of the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, is in operation in Sheffield.

   The gas, which is collected from organic waste, is being supplied by the Chesterfield BioGas company, a division of Chesterfield Special Cylinders based at Meadowhall, which has set up a refueling station at the council depot on Staniforth Road.

   For a six-month trial period the biogas is being used to power six vans used by park rangers in the city as well as four vehicles used by people working for Sheffield Council's environmental services department.

   Steve Simmons, from Sheffield Council's environmental strategy team, said that they have been working closely with Chesterfield BioGas who have a proven technology which they are very keen to use as part of this demonstration project. He added that the use of gas-powered vehicles will assist Sheffield to hit the Government's targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

   A spokesman for Chesterfield BioGas said that the amount of fuel used by the council's vehicles will be carefully monitored to assess the level of emissions and to compare the performance of the scheme against other successful schemes around the world.

   In the longer term, the council would support the development of plants to digest organic wastes and then capture the raw biogas produced. This could be cleaned and upgraded to biomethane by the Chesterfield BioGas process, before being compressed and dispensed at a similar but permanent vehicle filling station.