THE only service station in Sydney that offered greenhouse-friendly biodiesel has stopped selling it after the fuel failed government air quality tests.
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The B100 fuel can power an unmodified diesel engine and reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by more than 80 per cent as well as reducing engine wear, but federal Environment Department tests show it was releasing unacceptable levels of sulphur.
The results mean hundreds of people driving biofuel vehicles, including some Marrickville Council trucks, now have nowhere to fill up if they want to keep running on B100.
''All our loyal customers are upset but we don't want to break any rules so we can't sell B100 any more,'' said Bill Panagopoulos, who runs Franks Automotive in Marrickville with his father, Frank.
The family has operated the garage for 20 years but started selling biofuels only in 2007 when they identified a gap in the market.
Biodiesel can be made from several organic products, including soybeans, tallow and used cooking oils, and some trucking companies and private vehicle owners prefer it because it can reduce the vehicle's carbon dioxide emissions by 89.5 per cent, according to CSIRO tests.
But measurements carried out in January on behalf of the Environment Department showed that fuel samples from the Marrickville bowser contained 34 milligrams of phosphorous per kilogram of fuel, much more than the permitted 10 milligrams.
Other biofuels sold by the garage, B5 and B20, which contain smaller portions of organic waste mixed with fossil fuel diesel, passed air quality tests.
''Any supplier's decision to remove a fuel from sale is a commercial decision for that supplier,'' the department said in a statement.
''[The department] administers the Fuel Quality Standards Act 2000 which sets fuel quality standards. However, it is unable to comment on individual suppliers' marketing decisions … This department has no policy promoting nor constricting the use of biofuels.''
An industry group, the Biofuels Association of Australia, said biodiesel produced in Australia routinely met air quality guidelines, and it supported stringent quality controls.
The source of the B100 fuel that failed the tests remains unclear.
Australia's main supplier of biofuel made from soybeans, National Biodiesel, has supplied Franks Automotive in the past but was able to prove it did not supply the fuel that failed the tests.
Manildra Park, which distributes the fuel to the service station, was unable to comment yesterday on the source of the fuel. Two industry sources said the fuel might have been from an imported batch.
