Car News Articles

Energy Business Review reports that French hypermarketeers System U are pulling the plug on their bio-ethanol pumps for one simple reason: no one’s buying E85. Needless to say, critics of the critics who criticize E85– including the publication’s “staff writer”– view the move as insupportable. “Plans to stop selling the fuel are being driven by a lack of consumer demand, perhaps because the French government has not yet developed a taxation system that offers sufficient incentives for motorists to purchase E85 vehicles.” Zut alors! Meanwhile, System U has betrayed the farmer-friendly French government’s best laid plans. “This marks a further setback for the French government, which had set an objective to open 500 E85 stations by the end of 2007, but has seen only approximately 200 installed to date.” In Total? “French fuel retailer Total made an agreement with the French government through which it was to open 400 of the 500 planned E85 sites by the end of 2007. However, Total has only installed E85 pumps at 35 of its service stations.” So who’s the scélérat here? “By focusing tax benefits purely on tailpipe emissions, to the detriment of the fuel’s carbon-positive effects, the government has been unable to provide an environment in which demand for E85 can flourish. ‘End Intelliext.” C’est la vérité, n’est-ce pas? 

Read more