ABSTRACT
The introduction and adaptation of the technology in Tunisia began in 1973 when Ahmed Keskes acquired an Italian system and with it converted his Renault R-8 to operate on butagaz. He found that the system wasted fuel and was inconvenient in that the car had to be started on gasoline and warmed up before the switch to butagaz could be accomplished. Since the butagaz carburetor feeds gas just below the butterfly valve of the gasoline carburetor, both systems “breathe” air through the original, or gasoline, carburetor. Gasoline taxes provide considerable income to the state treasury; therefore, a small part of this income is largely or wholly lost each time that a driver switches to butagaz. Special filling stations would make it possible to distinguish between the two uses, and if the government were to tax butagaz used for cars, the difference between the cost of butagaz and gasoline obviously would be reduced.
