Alternative Fuels

You can reduce the amount of CO2 and other emissions your car produces by thinking about the type of fuel that it uses. Greener alternatives to petrol and diesel are becoming increasingly common, with many now being carried by petrol stations across Somerset. By law, all petrol and diesel bought in the UK now contains at least 2.5% biofuels and petrol suppliers often put 5-10% in.

Typical alternative fuels for cars include biofuels (derived from plant sources), electric or gas powered vehicles and hybrid vehicles.

Bioethanol Car 
You should seek advice before introducing alternative fuel to your car. Not all alternative fuels are suitable for all engines and you may need to get your engine converted.

Diesel engines – biodiesel and oils

Modern diesel engines can often run on biodiesel without the need for conversion, but it is wise to check details for your specific car first. Potential options for diesel engines are:

  • Brewed vegetable oil ('biodiesel') straight into your tank, either as a homemade brew or bought straight from the pumps.
  • Raw vegetable oil (chip fat) if you have a local supplier, but you may need to have your vehicle converted to take it.

Petrol Engines - bioethanol, hybrids or LPG

Unlike diesel engines, there are no alternative fuels you can put straight into a normal petrol engine without some kind of conversion or adaptation.

You could:

  • Choose a car with an engine specially designed to take petrol made from bioethanol (known as E85). These are often called flexi-fuel vehicles. You must not use biodiesel.
  • Choose a hybrid. These have an electric motor which operates at low speeds (such as around towns), combined with a petrol engine which kicks in at higher speeds. It's cleaner, and quieter, and reduces emissions especially at low speeds. Although hybrid cars can be charged up using mains electricity (from fossil fuels), modern hybrid vehicles partially recharge their own batteries by capturing energy when braking, reducing their fuel and electricity consumption further. Currently road taxes are also lower for hybrid models.
  • Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) is another option for petrol cars. LPG is stored in a second tank alongside your standard petrol one. The air out of the exhaust is much cleaner than diesel, but it's no better for CO2 emissions, as gas still comes from fossilised fuel. Given that it's cheaper, it could pay off financially, despite providing fewer miles per gallon than standard fuels and costing around £1,400 to do the necessary conversion work on your car.

To find out where you can buy alternative fuel in your area, go to the station locator on the Energy Saving Trust website.

Biofuels have recently become controversial because of the impact of removing forests from land that may be used to grow these crops - such as corn, sugarcane, rapeseed, soya or palm oil – and loss of biodiversity. They are also grown intensively using a lot of fertilisers and energy in their manufacture. The environment advantages and disadvantaged of biofuels therefore need to be considered carefully.

Somerset Biofuel Project

The Somerset Biofuel Project is playing a leading role introducing bioethanol from local sources into the UK transport fuel market as part of a strategy to drive down carbon emissions across the County of Somerset.

The Project is a partnership between Somerset County Council, Wessex Grain, Avon & Somerset Constabulary, Wessex Water and Ford Motor Company. Partners in the project currently run a fleet of 41 flexi fuel vehicles, supplied by 5 ethanol fuel pumps on Morrisons Supermarkets forecourts in Somerset.

Recent analysis by Imperial College, London has found that between July 2006 and July 2008, Somerset County Council’s pool car fleet has saved 26.7 tonnes of CO2. Over the same period, the cars in the Somerset Biofuel Project have saved 182.97 tonnes of CO2, based on Morrisons biofuel sales data.

Somerset County Council is also the UK Coordinator of the EU funded Bioethanol for Sustainable Transport (BEST) Project, integrating bioethanol into transport fuel markets across Europe.

More information about the Somerset Biofuel Project can be found in the Downloads section.