WINTERTHOUR - The first Swiss petrol station offering bio-ethanol fuel has opened in Winterthur (ZH). Within a year, the distributor AGROLA intends to inaugurate 14 in the country, including two in French-speaking Switzerland, in Délémont and Châtel St-Denis (FR).
They will offer E85 bio-ethanol, a product composed of 85% bio-ethanol and 15% gasoline, said Stefan Feer, director of AGROLA. WWF and Greenpeace are delighted with this first, but point out that “not all biofuels are organic”.
Former Swiss Mister Renzo Blumenthal was the first to refuel in Winterthur. But the station is not expected to see many customers pass by by September. Indeed, only a car model can use this fuel for the moment. The first vehicles will be marketed in Switzerland from September.
These cars cost on average 1500 francs more than a comparable traditional model, said a representative of the Scandinavian manufacturer. And we can also fuel them with gasoline.
According to the Federal Alcohol Authority Alcosuisse, vehicles that run on this fuel emit 80% less CO2 than other vehicles. E85 bio-ethanol also offers the advantage of being cheaper than gasoline. In Winterthur, a liter costs 1,39 francs, more than 20% less than unleaded 95 petrol, noted the director of AGROLA.
Environmental organizations are delighted with the opening of Switzerland's first bio-ethanol service station. But WWF and Greenpeace take a critical look at imported biofuels, which the Federal Council plans to exempt in order to encourage their consumption and reduce CO2 emissions. The raw materials used to manufacture them are often not grown in an ecological way.
source: LeTemps.ch