Brazil's Sao Paulo public transport authority (SPTrans) plans to introduce a fleet of ethanol buses to the city's public transportation system, according to mayor Gilberto Kassab.

 

After several years of field trials, SPTrans will begin operating an initial fleet of 200 of the vehicles, purchased from Swedish bus and truck manufacturer Scania, the company said in a release.

 

The first 50 buses, which will be manufactured at Scania's Sao Paulo production unit, will go into service in May 2011.

 

The city's public transport system has some 15,000 buses and aims to switch the fleet over to vehicles operating on renewable fuels by 2018.

 

Brazil is the world's largest producer of ethanol, which accounts for 90% of the renewable fuel available worldwide.