García Nebreda, secretary general of Aevecar, defends the use of renewable fuels to reduce emissions

1. Horizon 2030
2. Towards multi-energy
3. Electrification
4. Ecofuels
5. Moeve and the sustainable future

‘The combustion engine does not pollute, the fuel pollutes,’ said Víctor García Nebreda during his speech at the round table on the current situation of the service station sector, which is why he defended the use of renewable fuels, whose effectiveness has been proven and which are already available. 

García Nebreda spoke of the major business model change that service stations have been experiencing in recent years, with falling sales of litres and a radical change in the market. Although he assured that the transition is necessary for a better future, he stressed that we must be aware of the situation, in the sense that there are renewables, such as green hydrogen, which are not accessible due to their high cost, ‘possibly the last thing to be applied in mobility’, or electric recharging, which cannot always be installed or does not provide sufficient power.

Horizon 2030

With regard to electrification, he pointed out that of the 43,000 existing charging points, only 12% are located more than 50 KW apart. ‘We who live with transport know that a truck cannot be electrified today, and that is where the renewable energies that are already available are important,’ said the secretary general of Aevecar. 

García Nebreda also referred to excessive legislation, and although collaboration with the various administrations is good, the problem lies in the slowness and lack of decision-making, ‘with the current political Parliament, it is difficult to pass laws,’ he said. 

He also did not overlook the difficulty of meeting the targets set by Brussels for 2030, because, although electric cars will have their market, they will not reach the 5 million required by that date. ‘If we want to achieve the emission reduction target, we must use all available technologies,’ said García Nebreda. 

Finally, he recalled how the sector has been adapting since the 1990s and will continue to do so in order to serve customers and give them what they want. ‘I don't think there will be much difference between the service station of today and that of ten years from now; we will be the same,’ he said.  

Alongside García Nebreda, Javier de Antonio, from CEEES, and Manuel Jiménez, from the Association of Automatic Service Stations (AESAE), also took part in this round table discussion. They also defended renewable fuels and lower taxation, criticised the abundance of existing regulations, and stated that the European targets set by the 2030 Agenda will not be met. In general, although they were not pessimistic about the future, they did express concern in the sector about having to adapt to new circumstances and market demands.

Towards multi-energy

Before this debate, the conference was opened by the Deputy Director General for Quality and Industrial Safety, José Manuel Prieto Barrio, who wanted to show his support for the service station sector, which, he said, had shown its true colours during the pandemic. He also spoke about the evolution of the sector, which comprises 12,624 stations, of which 2,000 already have charging points and more than 1,000 have shops, and which is evolving towards multi-energy, ‘because there is no other choice’. In this regard, he encouraged business owners to view the changes required by decarbonisation as ‘opportunities’. With regard to the 2030 horizon, he stressed that he did not see any major threats. 

This was followed by three blocks. The first was on industrial safety, presented by Rosa Sánchez, director of Bequinor, the National Association for Standardisation of Equipment and Industrial Safety, which has been in existence for 58 years and brings together around 100 companies with the aim of communicating the real needs in terms of industrial safety to the authorities, as she explained.  

Sánchez was responsible for introducing engineer Marceliano Herrero Sinovas, creator and tutor of the ‘Course on Installations for Vehicle Supply, R.D. 706/2017 MI IP 04. Design and Inspection’, who spoke on the ‘Level of implementation of ITC IP-04 for service stations’. In her speech, she recalled the safety modifications that should have been made at service stations but have not been carried out, such as non-return valves, leak detection systems, inspection tests, etc. 

She also referred to the obligations of service stations according to the number of litres sold per year and their age. In this regard, she stressed that ‘there is no major non-compliance’, and that some stations have even gone ahead of schedule, but there is a problem with those that sell less than 3 million litres per year, which were required to install leak detection systems or test for leaks on empty, clean and degassed tanks, and have not done so. 

The worst thing, she warned, is not the administrative penalties, but the criminal code, since, in some cases, a crime could be committed that carries a prison sentence. 

Electrification

To discuss the ‘Multi-energy revolution at service stations’, Alberto Herrero, director of ZUNDER (a Palencia-based company that has become a benchmark in vehicle recharging in Spain), was in attendance. Herrero explained the implementation of charging hubs throughout Spain and Europe, with a presence in France, Belgium and Portugal, in accordance with AFIR regulations, the new means of payment that will allow charging and payment at any station in the group, ‘giving users very democratised access’, and the electric evolution of fleets and transport. ‘Users must know that what they are going to find in Europe is going to be a common ecosystem,’ he stressed. 

As for why electric cars have not yet become widespread, he was very clear: because of household budgets, which is why he advocated direct aid to users and price regulation. 

Ecofuels

Ecofuels as an essential alternative for achieving emissions targets was the topic defended by Nacho Rabadán, representing the Renewable Fuels Platform. After explaining the different types of renewables (advanced biofuels, synthetic fuels and HVO, which come from organic waste), he advocated the implementation of green energy taxation and technological neutrality. ‘The Platform is calling for renewable fuels to be a complementary option, and they are already available, so it would be a mistake not to use them,’ he concluded. 

Moeve and the sustainable future

Olarizu Olabarrieta, Marketing Manager at Moeve, also participated in this forum, explaining the radical change undergone by this brand, formerly Cepsa, with 90 years of history. ‘Moeve is the new paradigm for service stations,’ said Olabarrieta. She also explained that this is not just a rebranding, but rather the reflection of a profound transformation as we face a different future. 

She also explained that, in the face of this rapid change, Moeve wants to adapt to people, build a new way of understanding energy, listen to customers, establish closeness and ensure that consumers participate and are at the heart of the business.  

Finally, she spoke about some projects such as the ultra-fast charging network, the development of biofuels, green hydrogen for road transport and HVO fuel, already available at its service stations. ‘Moeve wants to lead sustainable mobility by 2030,’ Olabarrieta stressed. 

The conference was closed by David Moneo, director of Motortec, who stressed that service stations are ‘guarantors of mobility’ and will enable the transition. ‘The sector must play a more prominent role and Motortec wants to accompany them,’ he concluded.