BioEthanol for Sustainable Transport (BEST) was a four-year project financially supported by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

for promoting the introduction and market penetration of

bioethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a h ...

as a vehicle fuel, and the introduction and wider use of

flexible-fuel vehicle A flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) or dual-fuel vehicle (colloquially called a flex-fuel vehicle) is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol or ...

s 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 A flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) or dual-fuel vehicle (colloquially called a flex-fuel vehicle) is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol or ...

or ethanol cars and 160

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a hyd ...

buses; to promote the opening of 135

E85 E85 is an abbreviation typically referring to an ethanol fuel blend of 85% ethanol fuel and 15% gasoline or other hydrocarbon by volume. In the United States, the exact ratio of fuel ethanol to hydrocarbon may vary according to ASTM 5798 ...

and 13 ED95 public fuel stations; and to promote the development and testing of hydrous E15 and anhydrous low ethanol blends with

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic com ...

and diesel. ''Abstract also presented in English''.

Participants

There were ten participating cities and regions, and several commercial partners.

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropolita ...

(

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

) was the coordinating city, and other participants were Basque Country and

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

(

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

), the Biofuel Region in Sweden,

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squar ...

( Germany),

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest cit ...

( Italy),

Nanyang Nanyang is the romanization of two common Chinese place names. It may refer to: Written as 南洋 (Southern Ocean) * Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea ;China * Nanyang Fleet, Qing ...

( China),

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

(

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Neth ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

( Brazil), and

Somerset Somerset ( , ; Archaism, archaically Somersetshire , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the so ...

( UK). The commercial partners were

Ford Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Britain, Ford Germany, and Irish H ...

Saab Automobile Saab Automobile AB () is a defunct car manufacturer that was founded in Sweden in 1945 when its parent company, Saab AB, began a project to design a small automobile. The first production model, the Saab 92, was launched in 1949. In 1968 the pa ...

and several bioethanol suppliers.

Implemented projects

Flexible-fuel vehicles

A major activity in BEST was the promotion of

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 The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne C ...

bus running on ED95 (

sugarcane ethanol Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...

plus an ignition improver) and a

Dongfeng Dongfeng is the romanization of several Chinese names of which most notably "East Wind" (); it may refer to: People's Republic of China * Dongfeng (missile) (), series of ballistic missiles of the People's Liberation Army * Chinese series of die ...

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 Dongfeng Motor Corporation Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhan, Hubei. Founded in 1969, it is currently the third largest of the " Big Four" state-owned car manufacturers of China, namely: SAIC Motor, FAW ...

. 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 A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...

gas emissions and local

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

. *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

with a modified diesel engine capable of running with 95% hydrous ethanol with 5% ignition improver. Scania adjusted the

compression ratio The compression ratio is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder and combustion chamber in an internal combustion engine at their maximum and minimum values. A fundamental specification for such engines, it is measured two ways: the stati ...

from 18:1 to 28:1, added larger

fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All comp ...

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 - pt, Centro Nacional de Referência em Biomassa) at the

Universidade de São Paulo The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

, and compared with similar diesel models, with special attention to

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simpl ...

and

particulate matter Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The te ...

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

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 Paulista Avenue (Avenida Paulista in Portuguese, '' Paulista'' being the demonym for those born in the state of São Paulo) is one of the most important avenues in São Paulo, Brazil. It stretches and runs northwest to southeast. Its northwes ...

, one of the main business centers of

city. CENBIO laboratory tests found that as compared to diesel, carbon dioxide emissions are 80% lower with ED95, particulate drops by 90%,

nitrogen oxide Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds: Charge-neutral *Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide *Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide *Nitrogen trioxide (), or n ...

emissions are 62% lower, and there are no

sulphur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

emissions. During the trial was observed that the first bus began presenting sudden halts of the engine in slow running. The problem manifested more frequently in hot days, when the ambient temperature reached 26 °C or more and on top of long grades. After analyzing carefully the problem in the engine's fuel power line, it was discovered that the bus was developed for the European temperate climate, where average temperatures are lower than in tropical climate. In hotter days, the temperature of the fuel line reached up to 58 °C, a temperature that could increase even more when the engine would be slow running. The excessive heating was causing the

vaporization Vaporization (or vaporisation) of an element or compound is a phase transition from the liquid phase to vapor. There are two types of vaporization: evaporation and boiling. Evaporation is a surface phenomenon, whereas boiling is a bulk phenomenon ...

of the fuel in the power line of the engine. The solution found was to deviate the fuel return from the engine straight to the tank, and thus, adapting the engine to Brazilian climate conditions. Based on the satisfactory results obtained during the 3-year trial operation of the two buses, in November 2010 the municipal government of

city signed an agreement with UNICA, Cosan,

and ''Viação Metropolitana''", a local bus operator, to introduce a fleet of 50 ethanol-powered ED95 buses by May 2011. The city's government objective is to reduce the

carbon footprint A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carb ...

of the city's bus fleet which is made of 15,000 diesel-powered buses, and the final goal is for the entire bus fleet to use only

renewable fuel Renewable Fuels are fuels produced from renewable resources. Examples include: biofuels (e.g. Vegetable oil used as fuel, ethanol, methanol from clean energy and carbon dioxide or biomass, and biodiesel) and Hydrogen fuel (when produced with ren ...

s by 2018. The first ethanol-powered buses were delivered in May 2011, and the 50 ethanol-powered ED95 buses will begin regular service in June 2011.

China

Nanyang, Henan Nanyang is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Henan province, China. The city with the largest administrative area in Henan, Nanyang borders Xinyang to the southeast, Zhumadian to the east, Pingdingshan to the northeast, Luoyang to the ...

, a new type of bioethanol flexible-fuel bus capable of running on petrol or

neat ethanol fuel Several common ethanol fuel mixtures are in use around the world. The use of pure hydrous or anhydrous ethanol in internal combustion engines (ICEs) is only possible if the engines are designed or modified for that purpose, and used only in autom ...

(E100) was developed by

. The buses look like conventional

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es and have two fuel tanks, one for petrol and one for E100. Two buses were demonstrated by local bioethanol producer Tianguan, who also supplied E100 for the buses. One fuel pump was set up for the trial. One of the buses uses a modified petrol-engine and the other uses a modified

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon di ...

engine. The new bus types were developed to overcome import duties and are a low-cost alternative for Chinese cities seeking to introduce bioethanol to their public transport systems. Each E100 bus developed by Dongfeng costs around , which is more expensive than a conventional petrol bus.

Italy

Three ED95 buses and one fuel pump was installed in

Spain

Five ED95 buses operated in

and one fuel pump was installed.

Sweden

a total of 127 ED95 buses and five ED95 ethanol fuel stations were funded within the BEST project.