etyres research into the use of Biofuel
27Nov06
As part of our Green Policy we are currently
evaluating the use of biofuel in our on-line, mobile
tyres business as an alternative to LPG and diesel that
we are using at the moment. This has been prompted by
the decision by Ford to discontinue production of their
LPG high roof, long wheelbase Transit 280 that we
operate alongside our older tyre fitting vans that run
on diesel.
Initial research indicates that Biofuel certainly looks
promising. And it is probably even better from an
environmental point of view than LPG. The raw material
is more sustainable than LPG, which is a fossil fuel
by-product. Biofuels are grown from a variety of
renewable sources such as cereal crops and sugar beet.
These assist in reducing carbon dioxide levels because
the plants absorb the gas and produce oxygen. A big plus
for our Green Policy. This almost offsets the CO2 that
is produced when the fuel is burned.
However the success of biofuel in our tyres business
will depend on its availability. This is a problem that
we have encountered with LPG which can only be bought at
about 1,200 of approximately 10,000 UK filling stations.
The outlook for this is actually quite good because the
conversion costs for filling station operators are
relatively low. Underground tanks don’t have to be
changed and it is dispensed through a pump exactly like
the diesel and petrol pumps that are already filling
cars now. This is a happy contrast to LPG which is
pumped into the vehicle through an alien looking and not
very customer friendly nozzle.
The true operating cost of biofuel is a critical factor
and the tax breaks are also important. (This is actually
vital to a business such as ours which operates on a
very small profit margin on the tyres that we sell). The
current 20 pence duty cut only brings biofuel into line
with petrol and diesel because production costs are
still high. Presumably a result of low volume.
Low volume does not appear to be a problem in Sweden
where it is now established as a major fuel.
Demonstrated by the fact that 80% of Ford Focus sold
there are flex-fuel. As we know, our Scandinavian
neighbours have a much better record than we do in
reducing emissions. It would appear that in their choice
of alternative fuel for their vehicles they can show us
the way.
Our conclusion is that for the next few months we will
continue our research into an alternative to LPG. When
all the LPG tyre fitting vans that we have on order are
delivered, which will be in the second quarter of 2007,
we will retro-fit for LPG and test the cost
effectiveness of biofuel in two or three vans. Hopefully
by then we will see some action by the Government on
reducing the duty on biofuel so that it will be cost
effective for us to use in all new vehicles within our
Green Policy. |
