Station Service — Wikipedia

Reconstruction of an ancient American service station from the 1930s.

Service station and rest area, in the form of a service area by the motorway, here in Italy.

Events allowing the supply of a service station, here total.

Iowa 80, the largest service station in the world.

A station-service , or essencerie ^{[ first ]} in several French -speaking African countries, also called station essence , station d’essence , petrol station , or gas pump is an infrastructure positioned on the side of a road, mainly intended to provide fuel to motorists. The word “service station” is a layer of the English phrase ( service station ).

In addition to fuel distributors, the most equipped stations also offer services necessary for motor vehicles: automotive accessories shop, tire inflation station, small mechanics and troubleshooting. Sometimes a fuel card can be used as a means of payment.
They also offer services for motorists: toilets, grocery store, catering, public telephone.

after-content-x4

A Themis Model JB1 petrol pump with a visible level bottle (1930).

According to the Benz brand, the oldest shop used as a service station is a pharmacy in Wiesloch, Germany, which, in 1888, provided oil ether (or Benzine), to Bertha Benz, the woman by Carl Benz, during his historic trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim ^{[ 2 ]} .

On French motorways, service stations offer parking and rest areas, often with a shop supplied with food (by 8 to eight for BP and Casino for Total) and comfort for the road. However, these prices are increased due to the permanent opening, a motorway royalty (motorway dealers oblige pomplists to take charge of certain highway development and maintenance work), the obligation to have fuels as well as the shortening of the duration of concessions to fifteen years (against twenty previously). Following the merger of Total with Elf, the State has sold several concessions to Carrefour and E.Leclerc in order to reduce the quasi-monopoly owned by the oil companies but these two large distributors now renounce the calls for tenders, judging These unprofitable stations: with the decrease in volumes observed since 2005 and the irreversible consumption changes observed since the prices peak in 2008, the fuel distribution has reached a landing.

Throughout the territory in 2010, the number of stations was divided by three in thirty years, due to the reorganization of the road network and the competition of large areas ^{[ 3 ]} . The 1,400 independents (out of the 4,500 stations in France) suffer the most.

Large distribution and its model ” low cost »Only represents a third of the park with 4,902 stations but 60.8% of fuel sold in France, against only 12% in 1980 ^{[ 4 ]} .

In 2006, the fuels available in France are mainly: Lead -free Supercartuants 95 and 98, diesel, and LPG. The ordinary essence disappeared in the years 1991-1992 and the supercurant (with lead) in the early 2000s.

The sharp decrease in the number of service stations since the 1980s is explained in particular by the development of large distribution and the greatest autonomy of vehicles (800 km in the years 2010 on average against 400 km in the 1980s), while Rural stations have undergone more and more heavy regulations and difficult to financially sustain ^{[Ref. necessary]} Compared to their relatively low sales volumes. While large distribution held 12% of the market in 1980, in 2013 it had 63%, although at the end of 2012 oil and self -employed have 6,175 sites out of 11,662, compared to 4,947 in large distribution ^{[ 5 ]} .

Evolution of the number of service stations in France [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

During the 1980s, a decline in the number of service stations was observed. This evolution is attributed to two factors. On the one hand, the closure of many stations in rural areas, which the low volume of sales made little profit. On the other hand, the closure of urban centers stations as a result of hardening of safety rules ^{[ 6 ]} .

Table of the number of service stations in France ^{[ 7 ]} :

In Paris, the number of service stations decreases drastically in the 2010s. In 2017, there are three times less than in 1995, where there were 280. The reasons for these disappearances are numerous: regulations on the protection of The environment, urban development projects or even economic crisis which pushes motorists to go and provide themselves in periphery hypermarkets where essence is cheaper. The liberalization of petrol prices in 1985 also played a role. A 2010 European Union decision, which should take effect in 2020, prohibited from service stations to be less than 13 meters from a building, which risks leading to new disappearances. In addition, the town hall of Paris prefers not to renew concessions (such as the Total Porte d’Italie, closed in 2013), in order to favor real estate or creation of ZAC programs ^{[ 8 ]} .

A prospective study of the Colombus Consulting Cabinet provides for the continuation of the movement to disappear service stations in three scenarios, according to the speed of the development of electric vehicles (VE): in the moderate scenario (44% of VE in 2050), the decrease in volume of fuel sales would be 18% in 2030 and 51% in 2050; In the intermediate scenario (70% of VE in 2050), the decline would reach 66% in 2050 and in the high scenario (97% of VE in 2050), it would reach 83% in 2050. The disappearance of stations will increase in zones rural, and highway and supermarket stations will be converted into charging stations for VE ^{[ 9 ]} .

Evolution of the distributed volume

Service station fuel and supermarket [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Filling the tanks of a supermarket service station

In popular culture, fuels sold in supermarkets would be of less good quality than those offered by service stations. This is due to the fact that at the time the supermarkets marketed the “tanks” bought at low prices to refineries.

The major difference is that the oil tankers give much more time for the creation of their fuels (diesel and petrol) to the refinery; and add more additives which allows less consumption ^{[ ten ] , [ 11 ]} .

In 2014, the distribution of road fuels was as follows ^{[ twelfth ]} :

• 12.7 million cubic meters in oil stations;
• 24.3 million cubic meters in supermarkets;
• 2.2 million cubic meters in independent stations;
• 3.6 million cubic meters in unidentified brands.

Installation and regulation [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

According to French legislation, service stations are facilities classified for environmental protection (ICPE). Indeed, this type of installation is affected by the section n ^O 1435 of the nomenclature of classified installations ( “Service stations: installations, or not open to the public, where fuels are transferred from fixed storage tanks in vehicle fuel tanks” ) ^{[ 13 ]} :

• The installations distributing an annual volume of liquid fuel greater than 20,000 cubic meters are subject to recording. In order to limit their environmental impact, operators in these installations must in particular comply with the technical prescriptions of a ministerial decree dated April 15, 2010 ^{[ 14 ]} .
• The installations distributing an annual volume of liquid fuel greater than 100 cubic meters of petrol or 500 cubic meters in total, but less than or equal to 20,000 cubic meters must be declared. In order to limit their environmental impact, operators in these installations must in particular comply with the technical prescriptions of another ministerial decree also dated to April 15, 2010 ^{[ 15 ]} .

For this classification, essence is defined as being “Any oil derived from oil, with or without additive of a saturating vapor pressure at 20 ° C of 13 kpa or more, intended to be used as fuel for motor vehicles, except liquefied oil gas (GPL) and fuel for aviation ” ^{[ 13 ]} .

Service stations that distribute hydrogen have since first ^is January 2019 concerned by the section n ^O 1416 of the nomenclature of classified installations ^{[ 16 ]} . The installations, or not open to the public, where hydrogen gaseous is transferred to vehicle tanks and where the daily quantity of distributed hydrogen is greater than or equal to 2 kg/d must be declared. In order to limit their environmental impact, operators in these installations must in particular comply with the technical prescriptions of a ministerial decree dated October 22, 2018 ^{[ 17 ]} .

The investigation of registration requests as well as the control of compliance with technical prescriptions by operators are carried out by the inspection of classified installations ^{[ 18 ]} .

The fuel pumps are equipped with distributor pistols, which are provided with an automatic stop system and steam recovery.

The supply of stations is made by tank truck, from oil warehouses.

The “pomplists” were once directly subject to petrol vapors containing carcinogenic substances and likely to cause vigilance disorders. They were replaced by self-service systems with card payment at night.

The main environmental problems are:

• chronic and sometimes accidental pollution of soils and tablecloths, by vanity leaks or from fuel spilled on the ground;
• air pollution by harmful fuel vapors (containing powerful organic solvents (VOCs), including carcinogenic and mutagenic benzene);
• health damage via chronic exposure to low doses of benzene: a study ^{[ 21 ]} Recent French concluded that for a child, living near a service station or an automobile garage increased (by 60%) the risk of acute leukemia in children.

The European Commission proposed a project ^{[ 22 ]} the December 4, 2008 aimed at guaranteeing the capture and recycling of harmful fuel vapors in the service stations, either to an underground storage tank fitted out on the site of the service station, or directly to the fuel pump: the project was subjected to European Council and in the European Parliament for an examination (Codecision procedure). The European Parliament voted a text on May 5, 2009 ^{[ 23 ]} , after prior agreement with the Member States. It must still be adopted by the European Council.

A system of phase II of the recovery of fuel vapors (or PVR-Phase II; Petrol Vapor Recovery) will be compulsory for:

• The fuel pumps of all existing service stations, newly built or undergoing a significant renovation and whose flow is more than 500 m ³ of petrol per year, or whose flow is above 100 m ³ per year and if it is integrated into a building used as a permanent place for work or housing;
• Larger existing existing service stations, the flow of which is greater than 3,000 m ³ per year. Compulsory before December 31, 2008 (anticipation of two years of the date initially provided for by the European Commission ^{[ 24 ]} ).

Related articles [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

external links [ modifier | Modifier and code ]