Saab calls for biofuels boost

 Saab calls for biofuels boost

Saab managing director Jonathan Nash has appealed to the UK government to boost the emerging bioethanol industry. Speaking at the launch of its second flex-fuel car – the Saab 9-5 2.3t BioPower – Nash said that CO₂ emissions could be cut by as much as 70 per cent, yet incentives for buyers in the UK were not available.

In Sweden, 13 per cent of new cars are alternative-fuelled models. Of these, most are powered by E85 bioethanol, which is the highest blend biofuel currently available. Huge incentives are available to buyers there, which aren’t in the UK. So Saab, along with Ford, Morrisons Supermarket and the National Farmers Union, have appealed to the Chancellor to include incentives in his 2007  budget.

Nash said, ‘Upon publication of the Stern Review the British government claimed to be leading the global debate on climate change. Well I don’t see much evidence of that. What I see is the Swedish government taking progressive measures, such as major tax relief at the pump and for company car drivers, and free parking in Swedish cities to encourage drivers into environmentally friendly cars, instead of penalising them.’

The SMMT believes that incentives are important in driving demand for flex-fuel vehicles such as the Saab 9-5 and the Ford Focus FFV. They offer an alternative to the stick of taxation and play a central role in an integrated approach to CO₂ reduction from road transport.