Published Friday, 17 October, 2008 at 10:09 AM
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry
The Honourable Desley Boyle
Queensland ethanol blend driving V8 supercars
Tourism, Regional Development and Industry Minister Desley Boyle today applauded news that CSR Ethanol will be the official fuel supplier to the V8 Supercar Championship Series for the next three years.
The announcement was made at last weekend’s Bathurst 1000 race.
“At present the V8s racing in the series are powered by a five percent ethanol blend but from 2009, they will use E85, a blend of 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent unleaded petrol,” Ms Boyle said.
“This is great news for the environment as E85 has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 per cent.
“It’s also a wonderful endorsement of ethanol-blended fuels. There can be no question of the quality when high performance vehicles are tearing around a track like Bathurst or Indy.
“Drivers like Craig Lowndes and Shane Beikoff have said they have noticed no difference in power or performance when using ethanol-blended fuel. Craig has also commented that using E85 resulted in a dramatic reduction in exhaust fumes.
“As renewable, non fossil fuels, ethanol-blended fuels are an important step towards a cleaner, greener future.
“The fact that CSR Ethanol is a Queensland company is another bonus. It produces E85 from a non-food source – low grade molasses.”
Ms Boyle said the Queensland Government had pumped millions of dollars into the State’s ethanol infrastructure and the investment was really paying off.
“In 2005, 40 Queensland service stations stocked +e fuels. Now there are more than 400 service stations retailing E10 which shows that there is demand,” she said.
“The current annual production of ethanol-blended fuel in Queensland is set to jump from 32 million litres to 150 million litres when the Dalby Biorefinery becomes operational in November and CSR expands its Sarina production in mid 2009.”
For more information on ethanol-blended fuels, visit www.ethanol.qld.gov.au or www.csrethanol.com.au
17 October 2008
Media contact: 3224 2007 3225 1005
The announcement was made at last weekend’s Bathurst 1000 race.
“At present the V8s racing in the series are powered by a five percent ethanol blend but from 2009, they will use E85, a blend of 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent unleaded petrol,” Ms Boyle said.
“This is great news for the environment as E85 has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 per cent.
“It’s also a wonderful endorsement of ethanol-blended fuels. There can be no question of the quality when high performance vehicles are tearing around a track like Bathurst or Indy.
“Drivers like Craig Lowndes and Shane Beikoff have said they have noticed no difference in power or performance when using ethanol-blended fuel. Craig has also commented that using E85 resulted in a dramatic reduction in exhaust fumes.
“As renewable, non fossil fuels, ethanol-blended fuels are an important step towards a cleaner, greener future.
“The fact that CSR Ethanol is a Queensland company is another bonus. It produces E85 from a non-food source – low grade molasses.”
Ms Boyle said the Queensland Government had pumped millions of dollars into the State’s ethanol infrastructure and the investment was really paying off.
“In 2005, 40 Queensland service stations stocked +e fuels. Now there are more than 400 service stations retailing E10 which shows that there is demand,” she said.
“The current annual production of ethanol-blended fuel in Queensland is set to jump from 32 million litres to 150 million litres when the Dalby Biorefinery becomes operational in November and CSR expands its Sarina production in mid 2009.”
For more information on ethanol-blended fuels, visit www.ethanol.qld.gov.au or www.csrethanol.com.au
17 October 2008
Media contact: 3224 2007 3225 1005