20/06/08

The first public bio-ethanol filling station in Italy

Inauguration ceremony at La Spezia

It was the first time we had not attended the presentation of a new car but it was a special inauguration: the opening of the first bio-ethanol filling station in La Spezia.

At a first glance everything looks ordinary but, close to the motorway tollgate, the Stagnoni gas centre, which is also a natural gas service station, has got a new fuel pump looking like a conventional one ……. except for some details: the sign “Bio-ethanol” in big characters, some specific information, a slightly different terminal for fitting in the filler neck and a display showing the price of 1.770/l.

The La Spezia filling station, though, does not supply “second generation” bio-ethanol (derived from wood cellulose or similar stuff), which does not affect the food chain, but it is a kind of fuel made out of the wine industry waste, coming mainly from Sicily. Of course, the price is not very competitive because of a very high excise duty that, however, the local administration and freight companies hope to lower by means of specific agreements with the national government. Actually, a bio-ethanol car consumes a little more fuel and its performance is lower than its corresponding gasoline-powered version. Anyway, from an ecological and environmental point of view, bio-ethanol has got some advantages, and not only as far as its production is concerned but also for the gas emissions which are markedly lower (carbon monoxide, COV and HC, benzene, nitrogen oxides). We ourselves checked the emissions of a Mondeo Flexifuel, by revving the engine from standstill: no fumes, no smell.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by some auto makers who have recently been producing bio-ethanol-fuelled cars for the European market: Ford brought the Focus and the Mondeo, Saab the 9-3 and the 9-5. At the moment some of these are part of the local administration’s fleet and the purpose is to test their efficiency and the quality of the bio-ethanol supplied at the filling station.
There are also other tests under way on 5% bio-ethanol and gasoline mixtures which are expected to work on most engines. On show at La Spezia filling station there was also a bus, which, designed to run medium-length distances, is part of the local regular service fleet and there will soon be one more on urban routes. Anyway, it is everybody’s hope that also the private bio-ethanol car park may become wider and wider.

The issue of an expanded green car park was also debated in the afternoon conference held at the La Spezia Urban Centre where, after the talks of the local public administrators and of the president of the ATC Spa (the Consortium Transport Agency), Jonas Ericson, assistant coordinator of the BeST (Bio-ethanol for Transport Sustainability) project, highlighted the main features of the EU 2006-2009 project which, started first as a test in Stockholm, was later extended to Italy and to other 26 European partners as well as to Brazil and China. The Stockholm test achieved important results, such as the enlargement of the green cars’ park, which was mainly due to the widespread distribution of filling stations equipped with bio-ethanol pumps (75% in town) as well as to incentives, promotions and information campaigns, backed by the government. The target of the BeST project, which involves automakers and bio-fuel producers, is to introduce 10,000 flexi-fuel cars and 160 E95-fuelled buses (a mixture consisting of 95% of ethanol and of additives for the rest 5%) into the market and to equip 135 filling stations with E85 pumps and 13 with E95 pumps.

The issue of second-generation ethanol was also clearly dealt with by Mossi and Ghisolfi expert Mirko Garbero by showing research studies and proposals on the matter. Actually the use of bio-ethanol derived from wood cellulose or inedible properly grown bio-masses saves cereal crops without affecting their market price. This “short chain” approach involving cultivation, refinement and distribution, might represent the future of bio-ethanol, bound to become greener and greener as from 2012.