The UK’s Local Government Association (LGA) is calling for the number of pumps providing bioethanol (E85) to be significantly expanded to allow every council in the country to benefit from an environmentally-friendly fleet of cars.
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Local authorities in the UK have a long track record of providing energy efficient vehicles.
It notes that a pioneering scheme in Somerset county will this week see the launch of a fleet of 40 council and police cars running on E85.
E85 is made up of 85% bioethanol and 15% petrol, and cuts C02 emissions by 70%.
The country’s first bioethanol fuel pump opened at a supermarket in the county of Norfolk on Wednesday with more set to follow in Somerset shortly.
According to the LGA, if every car-owner in the country converted to bioethanol, CO2 emissions could be cut by over 20m tonnes or four million Olympic pools. If every council in England and Wales took on 10 bioethanol cars, CO2 emissions would be cut by around 12,000 tonnes or 2,400 Olympic pools.
The only vehicles currently on sale in the UK that can use E85 are the Saab 9-5 BioPower and the Ford Focus Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV). Cars that run of bioethanol differ from other cars because they have hardened engine components, no rubber and larger fuel lines, to cope with the higher acidity levels of the fuel.
Although E85 benefits from a 20p per litre reduction in duty, it still costs roughly the same as petrol – an aaverage of around 90p a litre for the unleaded 95-octane brew in the UK at the moment.
