Crown Oil became the first and only UK fuel supplier to run its entire fleet of tankers and delivery vehicles on vegetable oil in June 2021. The family business predicts a saving of around 3,080 tonnes of CO2 in 12 months from running its entire delivery fleet on HVO compared to standard diesel – equivalent to more than 3,000 return flights between Paris and New York.
The business has championed the use of cleaner fuels to customers across sectors including construction, on-road transport, rail, inland waterways and stand-by power, going the extra mile by hosting virtual webinars, offering one-to-one support and creating educational resources to help organisations understand the benefits.
Other measures taken by Crown Oil, one of the largest suppliers of HVO in the UK, include voluntarily offsetting delivery mileage, with more than 35,700 tonnes of carbon offset since December 2007.
Crown Oil is pushing its green goals further by supporting OFTEC and UKIFDA in ground-breaking work in the home heating market – exploring the use of HVO as a viable clean-burning alternative.
A whole business approach to sustainability
If that wasn’t enough, the business uses energy-efficient equipment and energy-saving lightbulbs, recycles all waste including IT equipment and customers’ oil barrels, and uses light sensors and LED bulbs throughout its sites. There are also staff tree planting days and plans underway to install solar panels on all buildings.
Managing director Matthew Greensmith was delighted to receive the prestigious award following heavy investment in HVO and other environmental measures and commented: “It is fantastic to be recognised by such a prestigious organisation for our green efforts as we continue our journey to become the UK’s most sustainable fuel supplier. Crown Oil aims to lead by example – we can’t expect others to make changes without doing so ourselves – and this award is recognition of that.
“This Green Award will continue to inspire our environmental efforts and we hope to inspire others to take steps to make their businesses more sustainable.
“Our work doesn’t stop here, however, and our next step is our pledge to run all our buildings on renewable energy by 2023.”
Ken Cronin, UKIFDA chief executive, said: “Huge congratulations go to Crown Oil for winning our Green Award 2021. We felt they are a worthy winner because of their sheer range and extent of green initiatives in place.
“As a company, they are leading by example and not only has Crown Oil been involved in trialling HVO as a heating fuel since winter 2020 and our Future Fuels initiative, but they are a leading UK HVO supplier that can boast an impressive 18,945 tonnes of GHG CO2 saved to-date from their customers switching to HVO.
“They are also the first and only UK fuel distributor to run their entire fleet on HVO.”