At the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009, before launching full-scale trials, initial tests were conducted on buses of the Ligne d’Azur network in order, on one hand, to validate this new fuel with the manufacturers and, on the other hand, to verify with the Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) the environmental benefits of this product. These tests revealed interesting results: a 22% reduction in CO2, a 78% decrease in smoke, and a 10% reduction in air pollution (NOx).
These initial tests thus demonstrated the full potential of this biofuel, leading Nice Côte d’Azur and the General Council to launch an experiment on their operational vehicles. This experiment will be conducted during the European Mobility Week on three buses of the Ligne d’Azur network, Nice Côte d’Azur, and one bus of the TAM line 100 network, of the General Council.
At the beginning of November, it is planned to expand the experiment to 19 buses: 11 buses from the Ligne d’Azur network and 8 buses from the TAM network. This expansion can only occur from this date as it is necessary to produce a sufficient quantity of used cooking oil (UCO). Simultaneously, a process of recognizing this product as a fuel is underway with the Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development, and the Sea.
At the end of 2008, the 250 buses of the TAM network carried out approximately 12 million trips, and the 350 buses of the Ligne d’Azur network, for their part, completed 55 million trips. The TAM and Ligne d’Azur buses alone account for 3/4 of the road public transport journeys in the department, across all networks, and nearly 2/3 when including rail traffic.
