|
Alternative Fuels
Alternative Fuels Road transport accounts for 25% of the UK’s total carbon dioxide emissions:  LPG Vehicles
Carbon Neutral Fuels Bio Fuels Bio Diesel: 25% Bio Diesel: At Inver Workshop we have introduced a blend of 25% bio diesel (FAME) with 75% ULSD, which is being used in 23 vehicles of various types, so far without any problems. 100% Bio Diesel: Recycled Vegetable Oil: Bio Gas Oil … Off Road Applications Bio Ethanol: We hope to trial E85 bio ethanol, which is now widely used in Sweden. It is a blend of 15% unleaded petrol with 85% ethanol produced from plants (sugar beet, sugar cane, grain, even timber residues and straw). This trial will hopefully be in conjunction with Somerset County Council, who are spear heading the project in the UK. : We are about to start trials of 20% bio diesel (FAME) blended with 80% gas oil (red diesel) for use in some off road applications. This will be used initially in some of our John Deere tractors in Cheshire, and as a workshop heating oil in Wales.Also at Balnacoul we are experimenting with a Citroen Berlingo van which runs on 100% recycled vegetable oil. This is effectively a dual fuel vehicle with 2 fuel tanks. It is started on normal diesel and switches to run on filtered waste cooking oil once the engine warms up. As above the vehicle is performing well without any problems. Note: Duty of 27.1p/litre must be paid to HM Customs and Excise, for every litre of waste cooking oil used. At Balnacoul Workshop we have one unmodified vehicle on trial using 100% bio diesel (FAME), and to date there have been no problems, but the weather has not been very cold!was first introduced into the Forestry Commission by Kielder Forest District in 2003. It is made
from vegetable oils in a process called trans-esterification, and in the UK, most of the raw material is currently
waste cooking oil from restaurants and chip shops. The resulting bio diesel or Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME)
can be used as a direct replacement for mineral diesel, but if 100% is used, it has problems with ‘cold filter
plugging’ in cold weather, and is usually blended with ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD). This can be in any
proportion, but 5% bio diesel in 95% ULSD is the most common in the UK. We introduced bio diesel into
bulk storage tanks at a number of FC sites across the UK during 2005, and the three sites in the south of
Scotland now provide 15% of the total road fuel purchased for the fleet in this area. We are rapidly
expanding the number of bio diesel sites. : The EU Bio Fuels Directive 2003/30/EC has set a target that 2% of all road transport should be bio-fuelled by the end of 2005, and 5.75% by 2010. are derived from plants, and although they
still produce carbon dioxide when burnt in the engine, the carbon
dioxide released was trapped when the plant was growing, and will
be captured again by next years crop. So there is no overall increase
in the level of carbon dioxide in the environment (unlike burning fossil
fuels, which increase the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,
leading to global warming).: The Forestry Commission has used LPG (liquefied
petroleum gas) dual fuel vehicles since 1998, and now has about
140 in the fleet. They are started on petrol and as soon as the
engine warms up they automatically switch over to run on LPG,
which is mainly liquefied propane and is stored under pressure in
a secondary fuel tank. LPG is a by-product of refining oil, so although
it is still a fossil fuel, it is very clean burning, producing very low
pollution levels in terms of particulates and Nox. The Forestry Commission’s Mechanical Engineering Services Business Unit currently operates a fleet of 1660 vehicles throughout the UK, as well as a wide range of machinery and equipment, ranging from simple chain saws and lawn mowers, through quads and all terrain vehicles, tractors, lorries, road building equipment, and complex tree harvesters and forwarders. All of this equipment uses fuel, and a major part of the Business Unit Sustainability Project is to investigate and promote the use of alternative fuels and ideally those which are carbon neutral.
|
Related pages
|
 |
