Tesco is trialing the use of clean fuel derived from naturally occurring methane from landfill on a fleet of delivery vehicles for its online shopping service.
The retailer has entered into a deal with
Gasrec, Europe’s first commercial producer of liquid biomethane, to supply 25, 5.3 tonne light commercial vehicles, which will be part of
Tesco.com fleet of delivery vans at its Greenford distribution centre.
If successful, Tesco said it would consider rolling out the biomethane-powered vehicles across more of its Tesco.com fleet.
Liquid biomethane is created by extracting the natural gas produced from organic
waste in landfill. The gas is then converted to liquid biomethane. As well as being UK sourced, the green fuel is commercially competitive against diesel and petrol and has a much lower carbon footprint than diesel.
"Reducing our carbon footprint is something we take very seriously, and have made a clear commitment to," said Dino Papas, Fleet and Equipment Operations manager of Tesco.com. "Using Gasrec’s liquid biomethane is an important part of that commitment.
"But vehicle performance is also extremely important, so we can get goods to our customers on time. Gasrec’s liquid biomethane we hope will prove to be a real viable alternative to diesel for us."
Iveco EcoDaily vehicles
The vehicles being used in the trial are Iveco EcoDaily vans. Gasrec is a preferred supplier of liquid biomethane fuel to Iveco. The company, meanwhile, is working with a number of councils, commercial fleet owners and heavy vehicle owners to provide vehicles running on compressed and liquid biomethane fuel.
In a six-month trial of a Gasrec-fuelled Iveco Daily 65C14G cage tipper (used for street cleansing operations on behalf of Camden Council), the vehicle achieved a 62 per cent
saving in CO2 over diesel.
Richard Lilleystone, ceo of Gasrec, said: "Biomethane has been described as the sleeping giant of sustainable vehicle fuels. The adoption of the fuel by Tesco and other such businesses is a sure indicator that the giant has woken.
"Tesco will enjoy the substantial environmental performance and cost savings benefits that the use of our fuel facilitates. At the same time, it avoids the issues of limited range and sub-standard performance that many of the alternative fuel systems engender, especially electricity. Furthermore, it’s locally sourced – this is all produced from organic waste in the UK."
The first Tesco.com liquid biomethane fuelled vehicles will come into use in August 2010.
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