Sainsbury's expands biogas-powered vehicle trials
Tuesday 17 February 2009
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| The supermarket chain has been running a vehicle on a 500km round trip route in the South West of England since August |
Supermarket chain Sainsbury's is expanding its trials running vehicles on biogas made from landfilled waste, with an order for five more of its vehicles to be converted.
The company has been running one of its Mercedes-Benz Axor lorries since August, fitted with "Dual-Fuel" technology allowing it to use a combination of diesel and biomethane.
Clean Air Power, the company that pioneered the technology, reported today that the supermarket has ordered five more of the Genesis Dual Fuel installations.
The firm said the order from Sainsbury's represented an "ongoing commitment" by the supermarket chain to reduce its road transport emissions.
Clean Air Power, which has its head office in High Wycombe, says its technology allows up to 50% of a vehicle's diesel to be replaced by natural gas or, in this case, biogas.
The Sainsbury's "Running on Rubbish" trials have involved the Mercedes vehicle running on a 500km round trip between the chain's new "green store" in Dartmouth, Devon, and a depot in Bristol.
Biogas used in the trials has been supplied by Warwick-based company Gasrec Ltd, produced from landfill gas emitted by a site in Surrey run by waste firm SITA UK.
Understanding
Gary King, Sainsbury's logistics operations support manager, said: "Sainsbury's is keen to continue the evaluation of this product in order to gain a better understanding of the use of this type of fuel within our operation.
"The purchasing of the Genesis units demonstrates our continued commitment of respecting the environment by seeking alternative sustainable fuels," Mr King added.
Clean Air Power claimed the supermarket would cut emissions from converted vehicles by 30% using the biogas/diesel dual fuel. And, it said there would be "significant" savings on fuel costs, while engine performance and efficiency would be maintained.
Sainsbury's is keen to continue the evaluation of this product in order to gain a better understanding of the use of this type of fuel.
Clean Air Power chief executive John Pettitt said: "We are pleased that such a respected and well known group has been impressed with the trial of our technology over the past few years and we hope that this order will lead to further orders in the future with our new products."
Volvo
While the Sainsbury's order will see the Genesis system retrofitted to existing vehicles, last month saw Clean Air Power agreeing to work with Volvo to develop new vehicles that incorporate the Dual-Fuel system from the outset.
This could see the substitution of methane in heavy-duty diesel-powered vehicles rise to a rate as high as 90%, the firm suggested.
The agreement could see a formal contract signed later this year, with the first commercial products anticipated to be available in late 2009 or early 2010.
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