Transport that respects the environment
Eni’s green fuel is changing the way we get around.
Eni Diesel + and urban transport
Eni Diesel + is Eni’s new fuel, produced in Porto Marghera, 15 per cent of which derives from organic or renewable sources. Eni’s conversion of a conventional refinery into a bio-refinery is a world first and sees raw materials such as used vegetable oils and animal fats transformed into high-quality biofuels. Eni Diesel + was launched in 2016 and is now available at around 3,500 Eni service stations. This is Eni’s immediate response to the challenge of reducing the carbon footprint of traditional vehicles while waiting for the public transport fleet to be modernised. Venice is the latest example of a city that has chosen to use Eni Diesel + to power its public transport vehicles, following a successful trial in Turin, reaping both economic and environmental benefits.
Getting around the lagoon on chip oil
Venice is conducting an experiment in circular economy: instead of being thrown away, the oil used by the public to fry food is being converted into biofuel for the city’s waterborne transport system. From 1 April to 31 October 2018, the iconic vaporetti in the city’s AVM/Actv fleet, normally powered by traditional diesel, will be using Eni Diesel +. As an incentive for the production of high quality biofuel at the bio-refinery in Venice, as of June 2018 Eni has inaugurated the first collection of used cooking oil from the houses of its own employees. The project, which will extend to the petrochemical plant in Porto Marghera by the end of the summer and will gradually be extended to other sites owned by the Italian company, aims to make the production and use of energy efficient and sustainable, converting a pollutant like used cooking oil into a resource.
The biodiesel used by Venice’s vaporetti comes from people’s kitchens
For the next seven months, the city’s waterborne transport fleet will be powered partly by used cooking oil, including the oil used for frying chips. During this experimental period, the fuel will be tried out for the very first time in marine engines, as a vaporetto engine powered by the new diesel is tested to monitor emissions and fuel consumption.
Benefits of a successful experiment in Turin
Between July and October 2017, 650 buses in the Gruppo Torinese Trasporti (GTT) public transport fleet, normally powered by conventional diesel, used the Eni Diesel + fuel. The experiment demonstrated to the City of Turin the economic and environmental benefits of using the new biofuel. Tests carried out on a Euro III vehicle belonging to Turin’s public transport company at Eni’s San Donato Milanese research centre, in conjunction with the Naples-based National Research Centre’s Engine Institute, showed a 2 per cent reduction in fuel consumption, a 40 per cent reduction in fine dusts, a 16 per cent reduction in particulates, a 10 per cent reduction in nitrogen oxides and a 7 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide.
Out of the frying pan… used vegetable oils converted to biofuel
From kitchen to city street – without causing pollution. All of these experiments have been made possible by an agreement between Eni and the National Consortium for the Collection and Processing of Used Vegetable and Animal Oils and Fats (CONOE) to create a virtuous circular economy. Oil used for cooking purposes is collected and delivered to the bio-refining plant in Venice to be transformed into a high-quality fuel.
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