BioEthanol for Sustainable Transport (BEST) was a four-year project financially supported by the European Union for promoting the introduction and market penetration of bioethanol as a vehicle fuel, and the introduction and wider use of flexible-fuel vehicles and ethanol-powered vehicles on the world market. The project began in January 2006 and continued until the end of 2009, and had nine participating regions or cities in Europe, Brazil, and China.
Goals
The BEST project targets included the introduction of more than 10,000 flex-fuel or ethanol cars and 160 ethanol buses; to promote the opening of 135 E85 and 13 ED95 public fuel stations; and to promote the development and testing of hydrous E15 and anhydrous low ethanol blends with gasoline and diesel.
Participants
There were ten participating cities and regions, and several commercial partners. Stockholm (Sweden) was the coordinating city, and other participants were Basque Country and Madrid (Spain), the Biofuel Region in Sweden, Brandenburg (Germany), La Spezia (Italy), Nanyang (China), Rotterdam (Netherlands), São Paulo (Brazil), and Somerset (UK). The commercial partners were Ford Europe, Saab Automobile and several bioethanol suppliers.
Implemented projects
Flexible-fuel vehicles
A major activity in BEST was the promotion of E85 flexifuel vehicles (FFVs). During the project nine BEST sites introduced over 77,000 FFVs, far exceeding the original project's target of 10,000 vehicles. In 2008, out of the 170,000 flexifuel vehicles in operation in Europe, 45% of the vehicles operated at BEST sites; and out of 2,200 E85 pumps installed in the EU, 80% are found in the BEST countries. Sweden stands out with 70% of all flexifuel vehicles operating in the EU. BEST sites also evaluated both dedicated E85 pumps and flexifuel pumps and found very few problems.
Ethanol-powered buses
The project included the demonstration of two types of bioethanol-powered buses, a diesel engine Scania bus running on ED95 (sugarcane ethanol plus an ignition improver) and a Dongfeng bus capable of running on both E100 and petrol (flexible-fuel bus). Fuel pumps were also installed at bus depots in the five participating cities.
BEST demonstrated more than 138 bioethanol ED95 buses and 12 ED95 pumps at five sites, three in Europe, one in China and one in Brazil. These trials helped increase knowledge about bioethanol buses in the participating cities. An innovation within BEST was the demonstration of two dual-tank E100 buses developed by the Chinese vehicle producer Dongfeng Motor. All BEST sites will continue to drive their bioethanol buses in regular traffic and some cities are already planning to expand their fleets.
The trial demonstrations showed that ethanol-powered ED95 buses: reduce greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution. are reliable and appreciated by drivers and passengers. cost more to purchase and operate than diesel buses. require more scheduled maintenance than diesel buses. Taxing fuel by volume instead of energy content penalises bioethanol buses. ED95 can be safely handled at depots and has the potential for wider use in heavy vehicles such as trucks.
Brazil
Under the auspices of the BEST project, the first ED95 bus began operations in São Paulo city in December 2007 as a trial project. The bus is a Scania with a modified diesel engine capable of running with 95% hydrous ethanol with 5% ignition improver. Scania adjusted the compression ratio from 18:1 to 28:1, added larger fuel injection nozzles, and altered the injection timing.
During the first year trial period performance and emissions were monitored by the National Reference Center on Biomass (CENBIO - ) at the Universidade de São Paulo, and compared with similar diesel models, with special attention to carbon monoxide and particulate matter emissions. Performance is also important as previous tests have shown a reduction in fuel economy of around 60% when E95 is compared to regular diesel.
In November 2009, a second ED95 bus began operating in São Paulo city. The bus was a Swedish Scania engine and chassis with a CAIO bus body. The second bus was scheduled to operate between Lapa and Vila Mariana, passing through Avenida Paulista, one of the main business centers of São Paulo city.