Diesel has been replaced as the preferred bus fuel following the recent successful launch of Oxford’s first environmentally friendly bus, powered by Calor Autogas - automotive liquefied petroleum gas.
Leading tour operator Guide Friday has proved that converting to Calor Autogas can offer a business advantage to operators, by confirming plans to re-engineer the remainder of its fleet of seven diesel buses operating in Oxford to Calor Autogas.
The move to a new greener Calor Autogas bus fleet marks a major breakthrough in the move to clean up the air quality in Oxford’s city centre, while continuing to encourage tourism. With the cleaner burning qualities of Calor Autogas the emissions from the new re-engineered diesel bus will be dramatically reduced.
“Taking early action to improve emissions and therefore air quality, particularly in heritage towns, was a key business decision aimed at conforming to possible future air quality standards and ensuring we keep one step ahead of our competition,” commented Guide Friday managing director Richard Leadbeater.
The success of the Oxford project has been made possible thanks to Calor Autogas who put Guide Friday in touch with local building contractors, Knowles and Son, who in turn have allowed Guide Friday to use their on-site bulk tank to refuel their bus with Calor Autogas.
The technology and expertise required to re-engineer diesel engines to run on Calor Autogas has been pioneered by Guide Friday. Investing more than £350,000 over a five year period, Guide Friday have build up the knowledge and unique facilities needed to carry out the LPG retrofitting process for double-decker buses.
From their dedicated maintenance facility in Stratford, Guide Friday’s engineering director David Lampitt and his team of engineers have developed the re-engineering process, designing a number of parts and systems to make it possible. Due to the unique nature of the project, Guide Friday have even invented and patented a new fuel delivery system. Complete with speed governor to set the engine’s maximum speed and built in additional safety equipment for automatic fuel shut-off, using mercury tilt switches, Guide Friday retrofitted their first LPG bus for use in Stratford in 1993.
Having been tested and approved by the department of transport and LP Gas Association, David Lampitt explains the key technical steps involved in the re-engineering process.
“First the compression ratio of the diesel engine is reduced down to an acceptable level. At this point a spark ignition is introduced and a LPG catalyst is fitted and sized. Following this a Lambda fuel control system is installed with Guide Friday’s patented fuel delivery system and speed governor, completing the re-engineering process. Gas tanks are then fitted to the bus completing the transformation from diesel to Autogas.”
Working closely with Calor Autogas to ensure that adequate refuelling facilities are available, Guide Friday are continuing to increase their Autogas powered fleet and now have a total of 20 buses operating in Lincoln, Stratford-on-Avon, York, Edinburgh, Dublin and Oxford.
With Autogas considerably cheaper than diesel, Guide Friday will also benefit from reduced fuel costs, which translate to a payback time of two years for the cost of retrofitting a bus.
Commenting on Guide Friday’s move to Calor Autogas, Barry Ohrman Calor Autogas sales development manager said “Guide Friday have recognised the importance of the environment by investing heavily in the technology and facilities needed to convert their fleet to Autogas. Being able to support them in this move is all part of our commitment to offer a cleaner alternative to diesel.”
“With government pressures for clean air zones and continuing pressure from the public for environmentally friendly transport solutions, bus companies and councils in particular can’t afford to ignore the environmental benefits of adopting Autogas,” he continued.
“As a company that promotes the beauty of cities across the UK, we were very conscious of the need to protect the very buildings and environment which people take our tours to see.” said David Lampitt engineering director for Guide Friday.
“We believe that Autogas is the way forward and working in partnership with Calor Autogas, we are confident that adopting Autogas as our main fuel option will help our business to grow and protect the environment, he added.”
“Through our investment and training we now have a unique specialist Autogas retrofitting facility in Stratford, backed up by a team of nine trained engineers, enabling us to retrofit our own vehicles and offer a full retrofitting and maintenance service to other bus companies,” continued David
For further information contact Calor Autogas on 0800 992200 or David Lampitt at Guide Friday on 01789 293831.
Issued on behalf of Calor Autogas by Barkers Public Relations, Kennedy Tower, Snow Hill Queensway, Birmingham B4 6JB. For further information please contact Peter Haddock/Matthew Sutton at Barkers on Tel: 0121 236 9501.
Contact - Clare Petty
For further information call Calor Autogas on 0800 992200
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