Scania sustainability systems director Jonas Stromberg on Thursday congratulated the city of Johannesburg on the implementation of its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, adding that it was "one of the finest [public transport] systems" he has seen in the world.

Addressing delegates at the SymbioCity seminar in Midrand, Scania executives explained that Africa's first Euro 4 emissions standard vehicles were being used for the BRT Rea Vaya fleet, which was far more than required by legislation in South Africa.

It was also noted that the government in South Africa was discussing Euro 2 diesel emissions standards in the transport sector. Stromberg urged politicians to go further than this because Euro 2 was considered "standard technology" today. The technology for imposing more stringent standards, such as Euro 4, was said to be easily available.

"We need the authorities to ensure that the policies are there to help us introduce this technology, which is available," said Stromberg, adding that assistance with administrative routines would also be appreciated as this, at times, could be quite "tricky".

It was thought that South Africa could already have lower vehicle emissions, which would improve local air quality, if more stringent legislation was in place.

The Scania executives further highlighted that if buses using ethanol as a fuel source were operating in South Africa, emissions could be further reduced. The city of Stockholm has been operating ethanol buses since 1989, when it introduced 30 ethanol buses, and the city now uses 424 ethanol buses.

The ethanol for the buses in Stockholm is largely imported from Brazil, while the country works on increasing its own production capabilities for ethanol.

The first Scania ethanol bus had arrived in South Africa for a trial, and was on display at the Symbiocity seminar. Stromberg said Scania was also in discussions with potential partners in South Africa, and should ethanol vehicles be introduced, the company would partner with companies able to produce the feedstock and the fuel for the buses.

As for the food versus fuel issue, Stromberg noted that the issue of land use should also be addressed in this debate. He noted that there was more land currently used for golf courses than was dedicated to the production of bio-energy. He also noted that much of the increased food production over recent years was a result of more efficient land use, and not actually more hectares of land used for food production. He said that in future there should be enough land available for all needs, including housing, roads, food production and fuel production.