The region of Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy, will award funds to help micro, small and medium businesses purchase fleets that run on alternative fuels, including Autogas. The aim of the “ecobonus” is to replace light commercial vehicles powered by diesel that transport and deliver goods of up to 3.5 tonnes.

In order to apply for this fund, companies must be headquartered in or operating in one of 30 regional municipalities of Emilia-Romagna subject to the restrictions of circulation provided by the Plan for quality air (Pair 2020) or, alternatively, based in Emilia-Romagna and with access pass to the restricted traffic zone in one of these municipalities.

The incentives will cover the replacement of polluting Euro 3 diesel commercial vehicles, with more environmentally friendly Euro 6 bi-fuel vehicles, including petrol-LPG, petrol-CNG, petrol-electric and electric. Companies will receive a bonus of up to 2,500 Euros to renew their fleet, with a single contribution being granted for each applicant.

“The emissions from light diesel-powered vehicles are a major cause of production of fine dust. So we launch a concrete measure to improve the air quality, and we suggest this initiative to be extended to all regions of the Po Basin, so we can achieve larger results,” said the regional Councillor for the Environment Paola Gazzolo. “It is one of more than 90 actions that the Plan for quality air expects to put in place by 2020 to halve the concentration of PM10 and cut from 64% to 1% the population exposed to more than 35 peaks per year.”

Applications will be received from 10 April to 21 April, and the list of requests will be written chronologically based on the order of arrival, with priority given to micro and small companies. For more information, please check this link.