First Shepley Group Van Takes HVO Fuel On Board!

As part of our strategy to reduce carbon emissions, last week the first van in the Shepley Group fleet was laden with HVO Fuel, the first of many in a staggered distribution process.

HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) is a biofuel made from renewable raw materials and sustainable waste from verified vegetable fats & oils. It has a similar chemical composition to fossil diesel fuel, meaning it can be used as a renewable fuel in existing diesel engine vehicles. Part of the paraffinic family of fuels, it is a fossil-free alternative to mineral diesel which can be used as a drop-in alternative without any modifications.

The Shepley Group has installed a tank in Seascale to store the fuel, which can generate a reduction of up to 90 per cent in CO2 emissions. The transition to the new renewable fuel will be implemented in stages and used to power the existing fleet, with hopes it could save up to 143,000kg of CO2.

Karl Jakubowski, Shepley Group Environmental Lead commented

“This is a great first step on our carbon reduction journey. It is the first major move toward our long-term commitment of reaching Net Zero by 2040.

“Decarbonising our fleet is one of our top priorities. Our Net Zero commitment also includes adding more electric vans to our existing fleet to run alongside those using HVO Fuel in the transition period, with a host of EV charge points being installed across 5 locations recently.

“Since our 2021 baseline, our carbon emissions have reduced by 188 tCO2e, and the implementation of HVO Fuel will drastically increase this figure. We now look to continue our hard work on the next stages of our Carbon Reduction Plan.”