French filling stations abandon E85

Système U’s decision is a setback for the French government, which had set an objective to open 500 E85 stations by the end of 2007, but has seen only around 200 installed.

Reluctance
It comes on the back of continuing reluctance on the part of several other French filling station operators to install E85 pumps. Fuel retailer Total, for example, made an agreement with the French government in 2006 to open 400 of the 500 planned E85 sites by the end of 2007. However, to date, only 35 Total service stations have E85 pumps installed.

Lack
One of the main factors behind the low consumer demand for E85 is simply a lack of E85 vehicles on French roads. Although all the main car manufacturers in France offer E85 models, they make up only a tiny proportion of total sales: of the 627,000 cars that PSA Citroën sold in France in 2007, only 250 were E85 models. Similarly, only 200 of Renault's 444,000 sales were E85 models.

Tailpipe emissions
The government’s automotive biofuel subsidy framework is widely perceived to be at the root of the problem, as it offers little incentive for consumers to buy E85 vehicles. Such incentives that exist are based on a tailpipe emissions thresholds, rather than well-to-wheel emissions. In terms of tailpipe emissions, many E85 models are above the threshold, even though in well-to-wheel terms they are hugely more sustainable.

Since the start of 2008, for example, new cars that emit less than 130 grams of CO2 per kilometre have attracted a subsidy of between €200 and €1,600. However, new car buyers have to pay between €200 and €2,600 if their new vehicle emits more than 160 grams of CO2 per kilometre – a level which catches many of the mainstream biofuels models.

Surely proof, if any more were needed, that tail-pipe emissions are at the very least a misleading and inappropriate measure of vehicle sustainability, if not a totally erroneous one.