Car drivers prepared to switch to durable fuels

The majority of car drivers in the North of Holland are prepared to switch from gasoline to durable fuels. The will to change is, however, dependent on a number of conditions, such as price and location. This is the conclusion of a research report of the Science Shop. The Science Shop of Economics, Management and Organizations is an institute affiliated with the University of Groningen; it acts as an intermediary for research and internships between the university and all kinds of clients.

Research  

The research has been conducted for Green Planet. This company wants to start a filling station in Pesse, near the A28. This filling station should offer durable fuels beside the regular fuels. Because these durable fuels are hardly offered in the Netherlands yet, it was unclear whether car drivers were willing to switch from the current fuels to the durable fuels. This is the reason that the Science Shop started this research.

Anke van Amelsfoort and Rudi Zwier, two business administration students, came up with a survey to investigate how the will to use durable fuels could be translated to the consumer behaviour of these people. This survey was based on responses from more than 300 car drivers in Groningen and Drenthe. The survey included a distinction between the durable fuels B10 and E10 (durable fuels that can mix with petrol or diesel without any problems) and the durable fuels CNG (natural gas) and E85 (for which an adaptation of the motor or a new car is necessary).

Results

Almost three quarters of the motorists take into account whether a car is environmentally friendly when purchasing a new one. Another result is that most people have heard of ethanol, biodiesel or hydrogen, while the durable fuels PPO and CNG are less familiar. Concerning the durable fuels E10 and B10, there any many motorists who do not know the consequences for the engine or the maintenance. If the prices of durable fuels were the same as the prices of regular fuels, then 80%  of motorists are willing to switch to durable fuels. If the price of durable fuels were higher than the price of regular fuels, less than 50% percent would still go for the durable fuels.

Another important result is that people are not willing to drive a longer distance for durable fuels. They will go to the fuel station that is nearby. Price and distance seem to be the most important factors in the consumers’ choice. To stimulate people to buy durable fuels, the customers should be informed about the environmental aspects and the properties of durable fuels. Also it is important that there are enough durable fuel stations to cover the whole country.

Location

Van Amelsfoort and Zwier claim that the location of the fuel station of Green Planet next to the A28 in Pesse is a good choice. At this moment durable fuels are only offered at great distances from Pesse: in Leeuwarden (73km) and Zwolle (50km). The company Dutch4 wants to realise 40 CNG-stations in 2008. Agros also carefully started to offer E85 in Rotterdam and already offers E5. Together with these stations, the station in Pesse will be a good location, considering the reach of fuel stations that offer durable fuels in the Netherlands.

Government

Compared to governments in other countries, the Dutch government hardly stimulates the use of durable fuels. For example, in Belgium and Germany the governments stimulate the use of biodiesel by means of a subsidy. In these countries, the number of fuel stations that offer durable fuels is growing fast. But considering the fact that the Netherlands should have reduced their C02 emission with 30% by 2020, according to EU regulations, we can expect the Dutch government to stimulate the use of durable fuels more and more in the future.