Gasrec helps Waitrose cut CO2 emissions on delivery vans

Waitrose, part of the John Lewis Partnership, is committed to reducing its carbon footprint. Its latest initiative involves the use of sustainable fuel made from landfill gas to run five of its home delivery vehicles in central London.

The liquid Biomethane fuel for five Mercedes Sprinters that Waitrose uses to deliver groceries is being supplied by UK company Gasrec - the first commercial producer of Liquid Biomethane in Europe. It is created by extracting naturally occurring methane from organic waste in landfill sites and converting it to a high quality, clean fuel.

The natural gas produced from biomass in landfill is then converted to Liquid Biomethane, which has the lowest carbon footprint of all the renewable vehicles and is commercially competitive against diesel and petrol. In addition it can be directly substituted for both Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). This Liquid Biomethane is then used to fuel dedicated gas-powered or duel-fuel vehicles; or for decentralised (off grid) power generation. Gasrec’s Liquid Biomethane is UK sourced, sustainable and commercially competitive.

The Waitrose vehicles will refuel from a Gasrec-run refuelling facility based in Camden, north London, where Gasrec ran a successful six month trial of a Gasrec-fuelled Iveco Daily 65C14G cage tipper (used for street cleansing operations on behalf of Camden Council). The trial resulted in a 62 per cent saving in CO² over diesel.

Gasrec is a preferred supplier of Liquid Biomethane fuel to Iveco, and is working with a number of councils (such as Camden), commercial fleet owners (such as the John Lewis Partnership) and heavy vehicle owners (such as East Midlands Airport) to provide vehicles running on Compressed and Liquid Biomethane fuel.

All the Waitrose drivers who will be driving the new Gasrec vehicles will be fully trained and familiarised with the new vehicles.

Richard Lilleystone, CEO of Gasrec, says: “For the first time, there is a real sustainable alternative to diesel for fleet vehicles. The performance of Biomethane in vehicles far outstrips that of electricity. And it’s all locally sourced – all the natural gas is produced from organic waste in the UK. We are delighted that Waitrose has elected to use biomethane and we hope that this step will be the beginning of a larger deployment. It is apparent that growing numbers of like-minded organisations are electing to use biomethane as a fuel of choice which is good news for the environment.“

Ray Collington, Fleet Engineer (Commercial Vehicles), Waitrose, says: “The John Lewis Partnership is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and to using, where possible, locally sourced materials. Gasrec’s Liquid Biomethane gives us a high-performance vehicle, using local sustainable fuel that will reduce our CO² emissions. It is a real viable alternative to diesel for us.”

Related categories:  Biofuels and biomass   Environmental technologies for Transportation 

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