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| Press Room |
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| Date: Spring 2010 – present: |
| Discussions regarding amending the future fuel duty status of methanol based fuels to those applicable to electricity and hydrogen for transport are ongoing with HM Treasury, Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Transport (DfT). |
| Final Green Fuel Challenge Report presented to representatives of Road Fuel Taxation group - HM Treasury. |
| Final Green Fuel Challenge Report submitted to and accepted by HM Revenue and Customs. |
Further development of a 12 litre diesel engine which has been converted to run solely on methanol-based fuel has been completed.
The engine will be installed in a 44 tonne Scania tractor unit during 2010 for road testing. |
Successful development and testing of dual fuel petrol/methanol Ford Transit Vans.
These vehicles are now market ready. |
In addition a 9 litre Scania diesel engine was converted to sole-fuel methanol and has been successfully road tested in the Scania 17 tonne rigid chassis.
Further work is still needed on the cold start system. |
 Development and testing of simple stand alone Zero-m fuel storage and dispensing equipment was completed - shown here on the left.
A number of commercially available systems have been identified that, with minor modifications, will be suitable for storing and dispensing methanol based fuels. One such system is shown here on the right. |
In addition a dual fuel petrol/methanol conversion was designed and tested in a Mercedes Sprinter van during this period.
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The Zero-m gas to methanol manufacturing pilot plant (GIZMO) was completed - meeting its design criterion of producing 20 litres per hour of methanol suitable for use in our converted engines.
A pre-commercial version of this unit has been designed and is now under construction. |
 Early development work resulted in the conversion of two vehicles. The first was a petrol-engined Ford Galaxy MPV which was converted to dual fuel use and successfully road tested for over 20,000 miles.
This was followed by a dual fuel (petrol/methanol) conversion of a 2.7 litre Nissan diesel-engined London Black Cab. |
| Government Backs Zero-m In Pilot To Test Cleaner Alternative Fuel |
| Zero-m Ltd, a pioneering clean fuels development company, today announced that the UK Government is supporting its pilot project to demonstrate the benefits and uses of methanol as a cleaner alternative to current motor fuels. Through its Green Fuel Challenge initiative, the Government has granted Zero-m fuel duty relief, enabling the company to begin a cost-effective, step-by-step research program to test its methanol based fuel as a feasible commercial alternative for road vehicles in the future. |
| The approval of the Zero-m Green Fuel Challenge pilot project proposal by HM Treasury and HM Customs & Excise (HMCE), will allow Zero-m to develop affordable retrofit engine conversions for a range of older diesel engines, to convert several fleets of older taxis, vans and trucks, as well as measure the improvement in emissions, engine efficiency and performance resulting from the use of methanol based fuels. |
| "We are very pleased that the Government is supporting our efforts to introduce these potentially renewable and much cleaner substitutes for conventional diesel fuels", comments Peter Dodd, managing director of Zero-m Ltd. "By providing this fuel duty relief, the Government is helping us to conduct a thorough investigation into its benefits." |
| Following the Pre-Budget Report (PBR) in November 2000, announcing the initiation of the Green Fuel Challenge, Zero-m submitted a proposal to recommend that methanol should be considered in the 2001 spring budget as a potentially greener fuel for further investigation. Zero-m was then invited to submit a full pilot project proposal in September 2001. In addition to HMCE and HM Treasury, the interdepartmental panel, which evaluated the applications and made recommendations also included officials from the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR), the Department of Environment and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). |
| "We are delighted that companies like Zero-m are enabling the UK to make progress with the evaluation of cleaner, greener fuels which promise reductions in local air pollution and, potentially, green house gases. We look forward to working closely with Zero-m throughout its pilot programme and wish them every success," explains DTLR Minister, David Jamieson. |
| The project is set to begin early 2002. |
| Dodd adds, "We believe the project will allow us to demonstrate two very important things. First, that methanol based fuels can be very clean, practical and economic alternatives to conventional diesel fuels capable of quickly and significantly reducing dangerous particulate and nitrogen oxide emissions from existing diesel fleets. We hope that the automotive manufacturers will join in with us to help public demand for these much cleaner diesel fuels to grow. Secondly, over the next two or three years we also hope to show that our Zero-m technologies can make methanol based fuels economically from renewable energy and therefore represent exciting, yet very real and practical, stepping stones to the longed for, carbon dioxide free, hydrogen economy." |
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