Opening of first SuperEthanol E85 filling station in the heart of Vienna
Date: 05.05.2009Federal Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich, Arthur Kratochwil, General Manager of AWI Diskont Tankstellen, and AGRANA Group CEO Johann Marihart today opened the first SuperEthanol E85 filling station in the heart of Vienna, at Löwelstraße 12.
The Environment Minister, whose car runs on SuperEthanol, was the first customer to fill up at the new E85 pump. Minister Berlakovich welcomes environmental commitment such as that demonstrated by the filling station operators AWI and Genol: “A great, communal effort is required to meet climate targets, particularly in the area of transport. Changing to alternative fuels plays a key role here. In order to accelerate this, we have been promoting the conversion of vehicle fleets, on the one hand, and, most recently, the setting up or conversion of filling stations for alternative fuels.”
AWI General Manager Arthur Kratochwil added: “AWI is convinced that bioethanol has a great future as an environmentally friendly fuel. At the end of the day, every litre of locally produced bioethanol saves around 50% of the CO2 emissions released by burning a litre of petrol. That’s why, in cooperation with AGRANA, we have converted our most central filling station in Vienna, the one located behind the Burgtheater, to offer SuperEthanol E85. In the course of 2009, three further filling stations, on Prager Straße, Tivoligasse and Simmeringer Hauptstraße, will also be converted.”
AGRANA, the only Austrian industrial producer of bioethanol, supported the conversion of filling stations associated with SuperEthanol E85 pumps even before the introduction of the new federal environmental incentive and will continue to deploy the resources it has allocated for the expansion of the sale of SuperEthanol. In conjunction with the entire Raiffeisen Group, AGRANA has also decided to convert the fleet of company cars to run on SuperEthanol. “In addition to the expansion of the network of SuperEthanol E85 filling stations and promoting the public-sector procurement of vehicles capable of using SuperEthanol, Austria also needs to continue to focus on increasing the targets for the admixture of bioethanol to petrol for environmental reasons,” said AGRANA CEO Johann Marihart at the opening ceremony. He also reminded those present that France had recently promoted the use of biogenic fuels through the introduction of E10 petrol (super-grade petrol with 10% bioethanol), a step which has attracted voluntary support from the French oil industry. “The advantages of bioethanol lie not only in the reduction of CO2 emissions. Bioethanol makes it possible to sensibly make use of low-grade cereal surpluses unsuitable for the food industry,” says Marihart.
Interesting facts about SuperEthanol E85
SuperEthanol E85 consists of up to 85% bioethanol and 15% super-grade petrol. The bioethanol is produced from the renewable raw materials wheat and corn at the AGRANA bioethanol plant in Pischelsdorf, Lower Austria.
Flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) can run on both SuperEthanol and super-grade petrol since they have a sensor which measures the current bioethanol / super-grade petrol mix and adjusts the vehicle’s electronic systems accordingly.
According to a life cycle analysis published by Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH in 2008, the use of every litre of bioethanol produced at the Pischelsdorf Plant represents a 50% saving in terms of CO2 emissions compared to a litre of petrol. This analysis took into account the entire life cycle of bioethanol from the planting and fertilising of the raw materials to the transportation and processing of the crops until the combustion of bioethanol in a car engine.