Glasgow garage: bio-diesel
Greenpeace has taken over an Esso garage and is dispensing free green fuel to drivers. The Green Guerrilla Garage is at 341, Great Western Rd.
Greenpeace volunteers have today stepped up their campaign for real green fuels and locked the diesel pumps at one of Esso's city centre forecourts. In its place, volunteers are offering drivers free bio-diesel - a plant-based fuel that is identical to ordinary diesel but causes only half the damage to the climate. Bio-diesel is widely used in the US, Germany and France, and is guaranteed safe for British motorists, but is not commercially available in the UK [1].
The peaceful direct action follows a successful promotion in Edinburgh yesterday, where Greenpeace volunteers gave over seven thousand litres of free green fuel to taxi drivers and other motorists.
Greenpeace has written to Esso today as part of a challenge to all oil companies to invest their vast profits in renewable energy and real green fuel. Esso stands accused of blocking measures to prevent global climate change and undermining support for renewable energy and green fuels [2]. Esso's parent company Exxon made £2 billion last year, the biggest profit ever for a US company.
Laura Yates, Climate Campaigner at Greenpeace, said, "Oil giants like Esso are blocking real choice for motorists. Today we are taking a small step to challenge the monopoly of oil by giving away free bio-diesel. This is one of the genuine green alternatives to the oil-based fuels that are causing climate change, storms and floods. Oil companies like Esso make billions at the expense of the climate - they should be forced to invest their fat-cat profits in giving motorists real green fuels."
Today's action highlights Greenpeace's campaign for tax cuts and investment in genuine green fuels like bio-diesel, hydrogen and green electricity. Chancellor Gordon Brown has promised to reduce the duty on green fuels in tomorrow's Budget [Wednesday] - but campaigners are concerned he may pick the wrong ones. Ultra-low sulphur petrol and diesel and unleaded petrol are NOT green fuels, because they are based on oil and therefore increase the risk of climate change, meaning more storms and floods.
Anyone driving a diesel vehicle - including private cars, taxis and buses - is welcome to come and fill their tanks for free.
Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace Press Office: 020 7865 8283
Notes for Editors: 1. Bio-diesel is widely available in Germany and France at about 40-45p a litre. In most European countries bio-diesel is zero-rated for tax purposes. In the UK bio-diesel is taxed at the same rate as petro-diesel. No UK filling stations supply the fuel, despite the fact that Britain is a major producer of rapeseed oil. Much of the UK rape crop is exported to make bio-diesel in France.
2. Greenpeace's letter to Esso's Chairman is available from the Greenpeace press office.
3. In the November Pre-Budget Report, Gordon Brown announced the Green Fuel Challenge, an invitation to industry and other interested parties to submit ideas on alternative transport fuels. He promised that in the March 2001 Budget he would introduce "major" tax reductions on the most promising options.
4. A recent survey conducted by NOP for the RAC Foundation found that 91% of motorists support greater initiatives to boost greener fuels, and 91% would consider using green fuels if they were cheaper.
5. A media briefing on green fuels is available from the Greenpeace Press Office.
