On January 23rd, at Escola Básica João dos Santos in the presence of Sofia Athayde, Councilor for Education at the Lisbon City Council, José António Videira, President of the Marvila Parish Council, and representatives of the Dom Dinis School Group, PRIO carried out, together with Carris, Startup Lisboa, Lisboa E-Nova and Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, the first awareness-raising action for students invited to participate in the 2nd edition of the Beato Biobus school competition, within the scope of the Hub Criativo do Beato Living Lab, co-financed by EEA Grants.

This 2nd edition has the participation of 15 schools, bringing together 4 groups from the public network – Luís António Verney, Dom Dinis, Eça de Queiróz and Santa Maria dos Olivais – covering a total of 4,524 students from pre-school to secondary school involved in the theme of decarbonization in urban transport and made aware of the importance of correctly forwarding used cooking oils.

In each school, PRIO installed a smart oil bin and delivered gift bottles (mini-oils) to students in order to promote and facilitate the process of storing and transporting waste collected at the School, and will reward the one with the greatest amount of used cooking oil. The objective is to produce biodiesel for CARRIS buses from collected used cooking oil and create a career powered by ‘Zero Diesel’ for mobility to Hub Criativo do Beato and the surrounding community.

This initiative seeks to involve the entire school community and demonstrate the role that each of us can play in the much-needed and urgent mission to combat climate change, contributing, on the other hand, to the fair transition to a carbon-neutral society, leveraged by innovation, technology and entrepreneurship, generated by this living laboratory, the Hub Criativo do Beato Living Lab.

The elementary schools Professor Agostinho da Silva, Luíza Neto Jorge and Manuel Teixeira Gomes won the 1st edition of the Beato Biobus School Contest. They were the ones that gathered the most liters of used cooking oil in 4 months in a universe of more than 3500 students in 10 schools of the eastern part of Lisbon.

The 1,264 liters collected will be transformed into biodiesel by PRIO to supply CARRIS buses in a route powered by ‘Zero Diesel’ to be created for this area of the city.

This initiative seeks to involve the community and demonstrate the role that each of us can play in the much needed and urgent mission of protecting the planet! 

Smart cooking oil recycling bins were distributed in 10 schools and the 1st edition of the Beato Biobus School Competition was launched.

The Beato BioBus school competition has the participation of schools from the D. Dinis, Luís António Verney, Santa Maria dos Olivais and Valsassina school groups, bringing together more than 3,500 students involved in the theme of decarbonisation in urban transport and raising awareness of the importance of the correct disposal of used cooking oil. The aim of the project is the production of biodiesel for CARRIS buses from used cooking oil collected in selected locations in the parishes of the eastern area of Lisbon, creating a route powered by ‘Zero Diesel’.

PRIO installed a smart bin in each school to promote collection and will reward, with educational materials and study visits, the school that collects the largest amount of used cooking oil from April 1 to July 31 .

Consult the contest rules -> HERE

The start of this initiative included the presence of the new mascot “Oli-fante”, in a dedicated activation and awareness campaign in the 10 registered schools, where around 3,500 mini-cooking oil recycling bins and flyers were handed out. The action counted with the presence of PRIO’s responsible who tried to reach all the students with the message of the importance of the correct disposal of used cooking oil, being this waste later transformed at PRIO’s factory into an environmentally friendly biofuel that will supply the CARRIS “Beato BioBus” line. This initiative seeks to demonstrate the role of each one of us as citizens in this task which is to protect our planet, creating an example of a circular economy, as well as to contribute to the just transition to a carbon neutral society leveraged by innovation, technology and entrepreneurship generated by this living lab, the Hub Criativo do Beato Living Lab.

This initiative seeks to demonstrate the role of each of us, as citizens in this task that is to protect our planet, creating an example of a circular economy, as well as contributing to the fair transition of a carbon neutral society leveraged by innovation, technology and entrepreneurship generated by this living laboratory, the Hub Criativo do Beato Living Lab.

The PRIO and CARRIS united in the operation Beato Biobus, integrated in the Hub Criativo do Beato Living Lab project, started its implementation to promote sustainability and circular economy in mobility to the Hub Criativo do Beato Living Lab and surrounding community. The aim of the project is the production of biodiesel for CARRIS buses from used cooking oil collected in selected locations in the parishes of the eastern area of Lisbon, creating a route powered by ‘Zero Diesel’. Smart cooking oil recycling bins were distributed in 10 schools and the 1st edition of the Beato Biobus School Competition was launched.

This operation was launched in the second half of 2021, allowing the potential use of a fuel developed by PRIO in the Biofuels Factory in Aveiro in several CARRIS buses. This fuel, produced entirely from residual raw materials, allows reducing by 84% the greenhouse gas emissions of traditional fossil fuels, with no need to make any changes to the engines.

Pedro Boga, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CARRIS, says: “This project is an example of how you can act on a local level, thinking about global issues. CARRIS is very proud to be able to explore its potential to reach the population of Lisbon, in a project that combines environmental education with fighting climate change and raising awareness about waste recycling. It is a remarkable case of circular economy, at a time when the importance of reducing oil imports and greenhouse gas emissions could not be more on the agenda.”

For Anabela Antunes, PRIO Bio’s COO, member of the PRIO Executive Commission says: “This joint initiative with CARRIS consolidates the use of biodiesel in dedicated fleets, with a biofuel with 0% fossil energy, produced from used cooking oil. The contribution of residual raw materials to produce biofuels is very relevant and it is important to raise citizens’ awareness on the importance of collecting used cooking oils, thus contributing to sustainable mobility and enhancing the circular economy.”

In addition to the objectives set with the EEA Grants, PRIO and CARRIS will use the synergies to study and monitor the performance of the vehicles, which will allow the publication of a case study on the performance of buses based on different types of energy.

The Hub Criativo do Beato Living Lab was present at Futurália 2022 with the Beato Biobus operation, a partnership between PRIO and Carris, with the concept of a perfect circular economy in order to accelerate the Energy transition, and which consists of the installation of a system of collection of used cooking oil at the HCB and the local community, to transform it into clean energy: an environmentally friendly Biofuel to supply the buses that serve the mobility of the HCB area.

The 2022 edition of this annual event dedicated to education, training and employability had as its main theme “How (can I) build a more sustainable future?” and foster an open debate with visitors focused on sustainability and show young people in a practical way how they can actively contribute to preserving the planet.

PRIO and CARRIS have joined forces to develop the Beato BioBus project that will be launched in the second half of 2021 to promote sustainable mobility in the city of Lisbon, creating a bus route powered by Zero Diesel.

This fuel developed by PRIO in the Biofuel Factory in Aveiro and which is produced entirely through residual raw materials is a “totally petroleum-free diesel” that allows an 84% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of traditional fossil fuels, with no need to make any changes to the engines. In total, there will be up to 8 buses powered by Zero Diesel and that will serve the Beato Creative Hub, already from the second half of 2021.

In order to promote the circular economy, several advanced and simple containers will be installed in the Hub Criativo do Beato area in order to collect the largest possible amount of used cooking oil that will be transformed into biofuel to supply the buses that will serve the area. The two companies expect that with the Beato BioBus it will be possible to save more than 400,000 litres of diesel and around 1,118 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

This operation is the result of Startup Lisboa’s application, with the technical direction of Lisboa E-Nova, to the EEA Grants, Notice #4, and Environment Program for the creation of the Hub Criativo do Beato Living Lab, which also includes 8 other operations.