The first Royal Mail locations to transition to the renewable fuel are Sheffield mail centre, Midlands Super Hub and Manchester vehicle operating centre in a move that will save a combined consumption of 2.1 million litres of diesel this year.
Replacing this with the drop-in, fossil-free diesel alternative, manufactured from 100% renewable and sustainable waste, will cut up to 90% of greenhouse gas emissions, instantly.
With four more locations set to follow soon after and plans to roll out HVO across its entire distribution fleet network, Royal Mail aims to further reduce its direct emissions by up to 200,000 tonnes of CO2e over three years.
Drawing on its own experience
Certas Energy is committed to offering its customers simple, seamless, and sustainable fuelling options as Jamie Hodges, head of national accounts, explains: “We are delighted to support Royal Mail in making significant strides in their energy transition.
“Certas Energy is not just a fuel and energy partner, we are also a road fleet operator, so we appreciate the decarbonisation challenges facing the industry. After exceeding our own 2025 carbon reduction target three years ahead of schedule, thanks to our successful trial of HVO across our depot network, we have every confidence that the renewable fuel will play a pivotal and positive role in plugging the gap to net zero.”
Royal Mail’s fleet decarbonisation forms part of its ‘Steps to Zero’ plan and the adoption of HVO will dramatically reduce emissions with immediate effect and without sacrificing productivity, as no engine or fuelling infrastructure modifications are required.
A transitional fuel
Rob Fowler, fleet director at Royal Mail, said: “We’ve made great progress in decarbonising our operation by introducing 5,000 electric vehicles into our final mile fleet but we also need to focus on our HGVs.
“At present, the electric and hydrogen alternatives are still in development for HGVs. Vehicle ranges are low, purchase prices are high, and infrastructure is in its infancy. That is why we have introduced the use of HVO to decarbonise the HGV fleet within our operation via the most viable low-carbon option.
“We consider HVO to be a transitional fuel that helps us to take steps towards decarbonising our HGV fleet whilst low-emissions technologies continue to advance in this area. We will continue to assess and test other emerging low emission technologies that we could potentially deploy in our larger fleet including electric and hydrogen HGVs.
“Many of these technologies are still in development and are currently not commercially viable to deploy at scale.”
Certas Energy is a Recognised Fuel Supplier under Zemo’s Renewable Fuels Assurance Scheme, an accreditation that reassures fleet operators that they are purchasing bulk supplies of guaranteed and reportable sustainable low carbon fuels.