Burning bio

Launch of bioethanol in UK offers alternative road fuel option

A fuel pump with a difference made a high profile launch in Norwich recently, kicking off the sale of bioethanol as a high performance (and lower price) alternative to petrol - with a much better story to tell on carbon dioxide emissions too. Because it is made from farm produce such as sugar beet or cereals, bioethanol’s emissions when it is burned are largely ‘offset’ by the CO2 fixed from the atmosphere when the crops were growing. It’s also an attractive option for farmers anxious to diversify - although it could be a very mixed blessing if a big switch from food to fuel crops ended up covering the countryside with intensively grown monocultures…

Branded as Harvest BioEthanol E85 (a blend with 15% ordinary petrol) and sold at the Morrisons supermarket forecourt for 2p less per litre than unleaded petrol, the fuel launched in Norwich in March wasn’t actually made in Britain - but British Sugar’s production plant at nearby Wissington should come on stream early next year to make the loop more local. You do need a specially adapted engine to use this fuel. In that respect it differs crucially from petrol with a 5% biofuel admixture, which is becoming familiar on Tesco forecourts and elsewhere, and is currently the main sales outlet for biofuel in this country. Unadapted engines can use that without problems - but the Saab 9-5 BioPower and the Ford ‘FlexiFuel’ model are the only two cars currently available in the UK designed to use 85% bioethanol (or ordinary petrol, interchangeably).

For all its unfamiliarity, Saab reckon it’s a winning formula. When running on BioEthanol E85 rather than petrol, the company says, the 9-5 typically has 50-70% lower CO2 emissions, and also generates substantially more power, by making full use of bioethanol’s higher octane rating. What’s more, in its native Sweden it benefits from lower company car tax, exemption from Stockholm’s congestion charges and free city parking. All of which helps make it Sweden’s favourite ‘eco-friendly’ car, outselling all others put together, and accounting for 1.5% of the new car market since its launch last July. Ford, Saab and truck manufacturers Omni/Scania are part of the four-year EU-funded BEST (BioEthanol for Sustainable Transport) initiative, whose first goal is to equip 140 garages across Europe with bioethanol pumps, and get 10,000 bioethanol-powered cars on the road to spread the word. - Roger East

22 May 2006

Roger East