Difficulties accessing biofuel was found to be problem in pilot programme, writes Tim O'Brien
Availability of pure plant oil - also known as vegetable oil or biofuel - has emerged as possibly the largest drawback in a Biofuels for Transport pilot programme funded under Transport 21.
The pilot programme run by the German-Irish Chamber of Commerce involved converting 35 vehicles to run on vegetable oil, 22 of them heavy goods vehicles, five of them SUVs, four vans, two buses, one car and even a boat.
The final seminar of the project was held in Leopardstown Racecourse yesterday, with the last six of the vehicles to be converted before the end of the month. A report will then be prepared for the Department of Transport.
Most of the operators said they were very happy with the results although some applicants backed out when they found difficulties in accessing fuel, and the chamber itself said the fuel was not suitable for city-style, stop-start delivery vans.
The programme which also involved vegetable oil producers, millers and conversion experts selected its participants from 380 applications. Among those involved was South Tipperary County Council which had two trucks converted. Between them, they now cover more tha10,000km per month. Pat Fitzgerald of South Tipperary County Council said the local authority was pleased with the results and "delighted to be one of two county councils bringing pure plant oil biofuel into the local authority circuit."
Other experiences included that of Sean O'Donovan of O'Donovan Transport who said he travelled 4,000km a month in a converted Nissan Patrol. "I have had no difficulties so far, except that it is hard to get pure plant oil (PPO) anywhere. Using rape seed oil is ideal for trucks going on the Continent because of the longer distances. It is better value for money and better for the environment," he said.
Bus operator DJ Tobin,of Tobin Transport was equally pleased with the results, commenting he has been running a bus on plant oil for the past six months with no difficulties to report at all. "I have used 4,000 litres of PPO and driven 10,000 miles," he said.
Some of the participating companies overcame some initial challenges. "At first we had a few issues with regards to the choice of vehicle to convert," said Eugene Hall, chairman of AAA Mobile Windscreens. "But, after an in-depth consultation with our installer, we now have three of our vans running successfully on PPO, one of them brand-new."
Biofuels for Transport also threw up some pioneering moves: among the vehicles of transport was narrow boat, the Tom Rolt, which is used as a pleasure craft on the Grand Canal.
According to its owner, Meath tillage farmer Gerald Potterton, the boat was converted by Peter O'Neill of ecomotion.ie to run on plant oil, last July.
"The boat is used as a pleasure craft on the Grand Canal and I am absolutely delighted with the huge environmental advantages that such a conversion brings to boating on the inland waterways, where diesel pollution is detrimental to aquatic life," he said.
"To the best of my knowledge it is the first boat in Ireland to run on PPO."
O'Neill, whose company imports the kits from the UK and who works mainly on SUVs and heavy goods vehicles, said he was particularly pleased with the boat conversion. "If you have a diesel spill on the inland waterways it is a disaster, if you spill veggie oil it might be messy, but it is biodegradable and food for the fish," he says.
However, according to Aideen Keenan of the German-Irish Chamber of Commerce converting small, stop-start vans is not suitable because they needed to be hot to burn the vegetable oil.
AIB Finance and Leasing also pulled out of the pilot programme because there was no PPO available in the area where its vehicles were located.
"We would otherwise have gladly participated," a company spokesman said. Ralf Lissek, chief executive of the German-Irish Chamber of Commerce, said he was entirely supportive of the decision. "This is a pilot project and, as such, we expected that there would be some twists and turns along the way.
"The PPO market is a very new market for Ireland. The participating companies have proven themselves to be real innovators," he continued.
"They have paved the way for many other Irish companies to benefit from their experiences and make a smoother switch to a greener fuel in the future."
Tax changes may not benefit biofuel-powered cars
Minister for the Environment John Gormley has moved to dampen expectations that biofuel-powered cars are to benefit from tax changes in the forthcoming budget.
The difficulty for Mr Gormley is that while the Government has traditionally given a 50 per cent discount on vehicle registration tax for new cars which run on biofuels such as the E85, the minister has no assurance that people are actually running these cars on biofuels.
Indeed paucity of supply would indicate that many may be running them on petrol or diesel.
When it comes to the issue of annual motor tax, the minister has little guarantee that diesel engines converted to run on biofuels, will actually be running on biofuels and not simply filling up at the diesel pumps.
Mr Gormley has himself said the issue is complex, and that nothing has as yet been decided, while his press spokesman has spoken of biofuels increasing the price of vegetable foodstuffs globally.
The problem for those who convert their diesels to run on vegetable oil is that diesel engines are of a large cubic capacity, and any "green" inspired tax based on increases on larger engines would whack them, even though they have invested in going green.
None of which are good indicators for the fledgling biofuel industry or individuals who have spent thousands of euro converting a diesel engine in a car or van, to the greener biofuel.
Indeed the Green Party's own transit van used by former leader, now Minister for State Trevor Sargent, which runs on vegetable oil could be hit by any increases in annual vehicle tax based on engine size. Current deputy leader Mary White also boasts a biofuel car, according to her website.
The State's bioenergy plan has a bio-fuel target of 5.75 per cent of road transport fuel to come from biofuel by 2010, but this is mainly to come from an onus put on existing fuel importers to mix pure plant oil to their fossil fuels, creating a 5 per cent biofuel mix.
Doing it that way could leave projects like Biofuels for Transport, run by the German Irish Chamber of Commerce, out in the cold.