London buses will soon be propelled by the same stimulant most of us consume: coffee. Shell and UK clean Shell and bio-bean announce that together they are helping to power some of London's buses using a biofuel made partly from waste coffee grounds (Photo: Business Wire)tech start-up bio-bean are developing a low-carbon fuel based on waste coffee grounds collected from retailers and factories.

The B20 biofuel uses a 20 per cent bio-component containing coffee oil and will be added to the London bus fuel supply chain. The fuel can be used without any modifications to the bus fleet. The grounds are dried and processed before coffee oil is extracted.

The average London consumer downs 2.3 cups of coffee a day, which translates into over 200,000 tons of waste annually. Diverting this waste from landfills could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 126 million kg.

So far, 6,000 l of coffee oil has been produced, which, if used as a pure-blend for the bio component and mixed with mineral diesel to form a B20, could help power the equivalent of one London bus for one year.