Sweden has cemented its position as the European leader in the transition to alternative fuels after oil company OK-Q8 said it planned to open 10 new ethanol pumps in the country, a government website reported on Tuesday.

The initiative will bring to 145 the number of ethanol pumps operated by OK-Q8 and to 330 the number of ethanol pumps in the country.

The country is the European leader in the move to alternative fuels, followed by Germany and Austria.

The Swedish government announced in October 2005 ambitious plans to eliminate the country's dependence on fossil fuels by 2020.

Biofuel-powered cars are catching on fast in Sweden, where 2, 348 alternative fuel vehicles were sold in February alone, making up 13 percent of all new cars sold in a market where overall car sales are declining by 3 percent per year, according to the report.

Ethanol is distilled from agricultural crops and is produced commercially from corn, for example in the United States, and from sugar cane, for example, in Brazil.

Source: Xinhua