City of Barcelona signs Agreement to Further Develop the use of Autogas Throughout the City
By Carlos Bermudez Garcia, Autogas Development Department, Repsol
The total number of vehicles powered by autogas in Spain is around 3,000. Approximately 700 vehicles in Barcelona and 650 in Madrid currently run on autogas. Repsol Chairman, Antonio Brufau, and the Mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu, signed an outline collaboration agreement in April 2010 committing them to develop further the use of autogas in the city of Barcelona. 
It means that the Barcelona City Council will work towards ensuring the successful implementation of autogas and speed up the procedures for obtaining the necessary permits and licenses for selling autogas in the Repsol service stations throughout Barcelona.
Autogas will therefore be promoted in vehicle fleets for municipal and supra-municipal authorities, as well as concessionary and municipal companies. Repsol, in turn, will actively collaborate in converting the vehicles in these fleets to run on autogas.
Repsol and the Barcelona City Council will participate in promotional activities, sponsoring public events and technical conferences that are designed to promote the use of this fuel and its benefits.
A Monitoring Committee will be created to ensure the efficient fulfilment of the agreement, which will be made up of representatives from both entities.
Repsol is currently developing a nationwide project that will include the installation of 80 autogas points of sale by the end of 2010. Some of which, such as the service station in the Barcelona Villa Olímpica that hosted this event, and the service station at the T2 terminal of Barajas airport in Madrid are already operative.
Repsol is committed by this agreement to installing the necessary infrastructure for refuelling with autogas in its service station network in the Barcelona municipal area, and to planning and collaborating with the different measures to promote its use.
In Europe, more than 7 million vehicles run on autogas, including 1,500 city buses in 25 European cities that represent a total annual saving of 2.7 million tons of CO2.
The agreement in brief:
# Repsol will promote the installation of the necessary facilities at its service station network in Barcelona to promote refuelling with autogas.
# The Barcelona City Council will facilitate the process of obtaining the necessary permits for selling autogas at Repsol service stations.
# Repsol and the Barcelona City Council will participate in informative and promotional joint activities on autogas.
# By the end of 2010, Repsol will have 80 autogas refuelling points throughout its national service station network.
# Autogas is the most widely used alternative fuel in the world. It is economical to use and helps improve the air quality in big cities.
For more info, please contact Carlos Bermudez Garcia at this email address: cbermudezg@repsol.com or download the press release here
