THE UK is becoming a little greener. Superstore group Morrisons has opened the first filling station in Wales to stock a new fuel, Harvest Bioethanol E85 which is made from renewable and sustainable agricultural crops. It is very environmentally friendly and vehicles using E85 release through their tailpipes only the same amount of CO2 as the crops used to produce the fuel absorbed when growing. Cardiff's new superstore is the 13th Morrisons’ outlet to sell the fuel through its pumps marked with distinctive blue heads and butterfly motif. A second Welsh site has been earmarked in Llanelli and further sites will be brought on stream at some of the existing 277 Morrisons forecourts acorss Britain if public demand is strong enough. At the opening of the new outlet, car makers Ford and Saab turned up with models which can use the new environmentally friendly fuel as well as normal unleaded. Lotus also provided a high performance Exige 265E which is a mobile test bed for bioethanol research on behalf of a number of car makers. Morrisons petrol director, Phil Maud, says: "We’re the largest forecourt retailer of alternative fuels, including LPG, and believe that by encouraging the use of bioethanol E85 we can contribute to a reduction in the harmful effects to the environment caused by the burning of fossil fuels.” Support for the green revolution was given by Tamsin Dunwoody, Deputy Minister for Enterprise Innovation and Networks in the Welsh Assembly, which has a renewables’ policy written into its agenda. She says: “The availability of a bioethanol pump now gives consumers the choice of which type of fuel they use in their vehicles. Morrisons lead will assist us in reducing carbon dioxide emissions whilst protecting our environment for future generations.” Bioethanol E85 is about two pence a litre cheaper than unleaded and as much as seven pence a litre less than diesel, but it has slightly lower mpg returns. Engines run more smoothly, quietly and tend to produce more power as the fuel has a higher octane rating. Sweden has led the way in bioethanol fuels and in the UK, it is sold in the West Country and eastern Britain. The launch of the new green fuel in Wales co-incided with the addition of the Saab 9-5 2.3t BioPower with its 210bhp engine which is more powerful and less polluting than the unleaded equivalent and sits alongside the 2.0t BioPower version. The new model costs from £23,270 and is available in saloon or estate bodystyles and produces 185bhp on the lower octane unleaded if the greener fuel is not available. This latest flexible fuel vehicle joins the Ford Focus and C-Max 1.8 models with 123bhp engine, which are priced the same as their unleaded equivalents from £14,045. Andy Taylor, Ford Europe corporate citizenship director, says: “The expansion of bioethanol sales by Morrisons is welcome but it needs to be joined by Treasury tax incentives for company car drivers and through reduced duty at the pumps for retail buyers if the full benefits of less pollution are to be realised.” Saab UK managing director Jonathan Nash adds: “We are starting to see pieces of the jigsaw come together as flex-fuel cars appear on UK roads, bioethanol E85 pumps are installed, a network is spreading to produce the fuel and UK farmers are being paid to grow the crops instead of being paid set-aside not to grow them. “But we need the UK Government to treat bioethanol E85 in a neutral manner and give financial incentives to use it as it is less polluting and helps towards their target of cutting total CO2 emissions over the next few years.” | 
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