Vehicle delivery company Brit European, one of the partners in a £23 million government scheme to encourage the use of lower carbon commercial vehicles, says the project is on target to deliver the hoped for reductions in fuel costs and carbon emissions.
The Crewe-based company has converted 36 of its transporters to allow the engines to burn a combination of diesel and natural gas simultaneously. At the half way point of the two-year pilot programme it says the results so far suggest it is possible to reduce fuel costs by 10% and emissions by up to 25%.
Brit European was one of 13 logistics companies selected by the government’s Technology Strategy Board in November 2012 to receive funding to establish fleets of alternative and dual-fuel heavy goods vehicles. Some 300 low-carbon commercial vehicles are involved in the trial with companies including Tesco, John Lewis and the BOC Group taking part.
The technology is retrofitted and allows compressed natural gas (CNG) to replace up to 55% of the diesel fuel used to drive the engine. In the event of the system running out of CNG, the engine switches automatically to normal diesel mode. The programme also involves government funding to help meet the cost of 11 new public access refuelling stations around the UK.
Graham Lackey, managing director of Brit European said, “We’re at the half-way point and have HGVs that have done 75,000 miles without experiencing any significant issues in terms of performance or reliability. The data from the trial is providing the hard evidence that dual fuel is substantially cheaper and cleaner. The exercise is also creating a wealth of information from a range of real-life situations that will increase industry confidence in low carbon trucks in the long-term.”
Brit European’s HGV fleet is doing around 60,000 miles a week, making the fuel cost saving significant. With the 30k capital cost of the conversion, the company expects to recover its investment in two years.
Picture: Graham Lackey with one of Brit European’s converted HGVs