Zemo Partnership’s new Renewable Fuels Guide shows that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the UK’s Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) could be cut by an extra 46 million tonnes over the next seven years (2030) – equivalent to 4% of all road transport GHG emissions – if an average of 30% renewable fuel (including Renewable Liquid Gas) were adopted across the existing HGV fleet. Considerable emissions savings can be achieved up to, and will be needed well beyond 2040 if the residual diesel HGV fleet were to introduce renewable fuels on a wide scale.

This research is intended to help HGV operators on their journey to net zero and to explain the low carbon fuel options available today. “We’re delighted to publish this new Guide to help heavy duty vehicle operators who are facing many other challenges, find a way through the maze of guidance and regulations around cutting carbon emissions,” said the report author and Zemo’s fuels lead and Head of Sustainability, Gloria Esposito.

Regarding Renewable Liquid Gas technology, Zemo’s report describes that a HGV dual fuel retrofit system, capable of running on Renewable Liquid Gas and diesel, has been developed by UK-based company addvantage. Although only a small number of HGV fleet operators have fitted the technology, existing orders will see numbers significantly rise over the course of this year. The “addvantage system” has already covered over 10 million miles with no consequential failures.

addvantage offers a rental model which includes fitting and is charged at £150 per month, which means there is no capital investment required. The retrofit offers the greatest economic saving to long-haul HGV operators, with break-even costs achieved around 17,000 miles per year, according to Zemo.

With a fleet of more than 30 heavy duty vehicles, G&B Finch was one of the first fleets in the UK to trial addvantage system. Both companies worked together to measure emissions and fuel costs both with and without the system in operation. After proving that this technology reduced fuel costs and CO2 emissions in practice, G&B Finch elected to roll out the installation of addvantage across their entire fleet.

The system has been in use since July 2020 and delivers fuel cost savings of around 10% and cuts CO2 emissions by approximately 20%. The vehicles fitted with the addvantage system have now covered more than 3.6 million miles and the company has not experienced adverse wear or operational issues on any of their vehicles.

According to G&B Finch, installing the addvantage system has been a great success. The company confirmed that fuel savings from the system are very impressive, have lived up to expectations and have allowed them to reduce their cost base significantly. The emission reductions have enabled the company and their customers to report reductions in their carbon footprint. The telemetry dashboard that addvantage developed recently has been seen as a game changer, from both an operational and a reporting perspective. It enables G&B Finch to have complete operational visibility and operate their fleet in the most efficient way possible.

“We’re proud to sponsor this guide and help highlight how heavy duty truck fleets can reduce their carbon footprint – including retrofitting addvantage which delivers an instant 23% reduction,” commented Daniel Mitchell, CEO, addvantage Global.

Source: Zemo Partnership

2 August 2023