Scania Ethanol Buses To Be Tested In Brazil in BEST Project

15 September 2007

As part of the BioEthanol for Sustainable Transport (BEST) project, Scania’s ethanol-powered buses will be tested in public transport in São Paulo, Brazil. (Earlier post.) The first bus enters into service in October.

The Scania ethanol bus uses 95% ethanol with 5% ignition improver in a modified diesel engine. To use the E95 blend in the diesel engine, Scania raises the compression ratio from 18:1 to 28:1, adds larger fuel injection nozzles, and alters the injection timing.

Scania recently unveiled its third-generation ethanol engines, which have the same thermal efficiency as a regular diesel engine and meanwhile are certified for both Euro 5 and EEV standards. Euro 5 becomes compulsory in the EU in October 2009.

The bus will be operated by the transport company Empresa Metropolitana de Transportes Urbanos de São Paulo (EMTU/SP), and the trial will be co-ordinated by biofuel experts at the Brazilian Reference Centre on Biomass (Cenbio), which is linked to the University of São Paulo.

The aim of the BEST project is to support the large-scale use of ethanol as a vehicle fuel. Trials take are taking place in ten urban areas around the world. Scania is supplying the city buses included in the project.

In addition to São Paulo, participating locations include Stockholm, Rotterdam, Dublin, La Spezia (Italy), Madrid, the Basque provinces of Spain and Nanyang (China).

The BEST project was started by representatives of the Stockholm regional public transport company Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL) and is now partly financed by the European Union (EU). The aim is to pave the way for broad-based acceptance of ethanol as a viable alternative fuel for both cars and commercial vehicles.

Scania started to develop ethanol buses in the mid-1980s in close co-operation with SL. After more than 15 years of regular full-scale operation in tough city conditions, SL considers it a fully proven bus technology.