Scania is delivering 85 ethanol-powered buses to Nobina, which operates on behalf of the Stockholm regional public transport company, Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL). Scania’s ethanol bus features a modified diesel engine running on a mixture of 95% ethanol with 5% ignition improver. (Earlier post.)
The order includes buses for city, suburban and regional traffic to be stationed at SL’s depots in Bromma, Tyresö and Södertälje outside central Stockholm. Deliveries will begin in August. The buses will be equipped with Scania’s third generation five-cylinder 270 hp ethanol diesel engines, which meet Euro 5 and EEV emission standards.
Scania has more than 20 years of experience with ethanol buses. The company has delivered a total of about 700 ethanol buses, more than 600 of them to Swedish cities. In recent years, Scania has also delivered ethanol buses for commercial service in Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Norway and elsewhere.
Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, has the world’s largest fleet of ethanol buses, and as recently as during the past year, Scania delivered 85 ethanol-powered articulated buses for operation in SL’s service area.
SL’s owner, the Stockholm County Council, has set a target that at least 50% of all passenger transport in its territory should occur using renewable fuels by 2012. At the end of 2009, the figure was nearly 30%.
Compared to a conventional diesel engine, ethanol-powered vehicles can reduce fossil carbon dioxide emissions by up to 90%, Scania says.