The bus from Venice to Padova runs
on biodiesel.
On a recent trip overseas, Fuel Ghoul caught a bus powered by a renewable fuel source. The abundant supply of good domestic bio fuel is one big reason the Europeans are leading the world in the fight against global warming.
Italy’s mass transit system is spotless thanks to it's Green Industry. This nation’s innovative automotive manufacturers and fuel producers are steadily gaining ground selling green options in Europe, and Fuel Ghoul believes that whatever happens there will happen here in North America and in Australia in three years, and in Asia and Africa in ten years.
Much like its designer clothing, fine art, and music,
On
Italy is getting serious about climate change. Here's a poster stapled to a building in Venice. It seemed strange... It was the only poster on the wall, and as such it cut through the medieval veneer of every tourist's experience.
Obviously the Venetians are worried about the water rising in the
canals; recent reports show the city sinks seven centimetres each century.
Fuel Ghoul found following a very interesting piece online here: ‘At the beginning of 2005, the Italian Government allocated Euro 350 million for public
transportation initiatives. These funds are in addition to Euro 110 million
already allocated by the Ministry of the Environment. Part of the money is to
be used to substitute older polluting buses with new vehicles with lower
environmental impact. A potential substitution of almost 1,750 buses was
expected. The average age of an Italian bus is 10.25 years, in comparison with
a European average of 7 years.’
Italian biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils such as
rape seed oil, sunflower seed oil, soybean oil and used frying oils (UFO) or
animal fats.
It’s important to note that one of the reasons that the
Italians were so quick to adopt biodiesel is the fuel’s ready adaptability - biodiesel doesn’t require any changes in the fuel distribution system of diesel
engines. I was told by the bus driver that biodiesel is now even being
used as heating oil in Italy's northern provinces.
The European Biodiesel Board estimates that the use of 1 kg of
biodiesel leads to the reduction of some 3 kg of CO2. Hence, the use of biodiesel
results in a significant reduction in CO2 emission (65%-90% less than
conventional diesel), particulate emissions and other harmful emissions. Biodiesel
is extremely low in sulfur, and has a high lubricity and fast biodegradability.
Wired magazine has a recent story about the chief engineer of the Caviro Distillery in Faenza, Italy where they now
press their left over grape skins, stems, and seeds into ethyl alcohol for cars instead of grappa for digestive.
Fuel Ghoul would also like to highlight a funny little site
entitled Slow Travel
If, as sometimes happens, the bus driver forgets to stop, even though you rang the buzzer, just call out "non si ferma?" or "c' la fermata". They also sometimes forget to open the doors for you to get off. In this case call out "pu aprire?" If you are at the back (or front) doors and need to get off but can't get to the central doors, call out "pu aprire dietro?" (or davanti?). They may or may not open these doors.
If the bus is crowded and you are trying to get to the doors, say "permesso" to get by. There are some stops where virtually everyone gets off, such as near metro stations. In this case a line (crowd) forms in front of the door. To make sure the person in front of you is getting off, say "Scende alla prossima?"
It's nice to know that Italy is leading the way in using biodiesel buses in the European Union. As far as I know, biodiesel buses are already used widely in China and South East Asia. This is because Asian countries are rich in Jatropha plants commonly used in biofuels. This made the otherwise-useless Jatropha plant into a potentially profitable crop for farmers.
Posted by: Carson Ahlstrom | July 04, 2011 at 02:58 PM