Australian sugarcane to power new bus service

200,000 commuters in Melbourne's eastern and south-eastern suburbs are travelling on a new environmentally friendly fuel source, with the launch of Ventura Bus Lines ethanol powered bus service by Dr Sharman Stone, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage.

With $16,500 in funding support contributed by the Federal Government's Greenhouse Office, Australia's first pure ethanol-fuelled buses will go into service between Middle Brighton and Blackburn Railway Station, servicing Monash Medical Centre, Monash University and countless railway stations in between.

"The transport sector accounts for almost 16% of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions. By using ethanol in the place of petrol or diesel we can decrease these emissions by half. The launch of these new ethanol-powered buses is another step in the meeting our commitment to reduce greenhouse emissions", Sharman Stone said.

"Ethanol is produced from Australian sugarcane waste and is a fully renewable fuel source. With the transport industry being the largest contributor to Australian greenhouse emissions, alternative fuels are a plank in helping to reduce the 72.6 mil1ion tonnes of CO2 being pumped into our environment every year".

The Ventura Bus Lines new ethanol-fuelled services are the first of their kind in Australia, part of the Federal Government's $lb greenhouse commitment that is leading to new jobs, industry development and innovation right across the country".

The introduction of the new Scania buses is likely to have a positive effect on rural sugar-belt communities that produce 110 million litres of ethanol annually.

"With the average bus consuming 60,000 litres of fuel a year, these new services are going a long way toward reducing pollution and greenhouse emissions in the city and giving Australian farmers a boost as well."

"The distinctive livery of the Ventura buses will remind travellers on Route 703 of the important contribution that they are making toward a cleaner, greener Australia".

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click on www.australia.org.nz.

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