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The Freight Transport Association has responded to the news that the introduction of Oxford’s Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ) is due to be postponed with Birmingham City Council and Leeds City Council also requesting postponements of their Clean Air Zone (CAZs).
“FTA supports the decision made by Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council to postpone the introduction of the ZEZ, and we also support Birmingham City Council and Leeds City Council in their requests to government to have their CAZs postponed,” said Natalie Chapman, head of urban Policy at FTA comments:
“Delaying the introduction of these schemes will allow businesses operating within the logistics sector to focus their efforts on ensuring the public, supermarkets and other retailers all receive the essential items needed during this pandemic.
“We urge other cities with impending clean air schemes to follow suit; with logistics businesses facing unprecedented demand for food, hygiene products, medicines and other basic items, the right framework must be in place to support these workers through these extraordinary times and to keep the supply chain intact.”
“FTA fully and wholeheartedly supports the need to improve air quality,” added Ms Chapman.
“It is simply that these schemes pose a major change, and currently our industry cannot undertake the work and planning it needs to do in order to achieve smooth compliance or be certain it has the funds to make these changes. As well as the administrative difficulties logistics is experiencing, supplies of technology, equipment and trucks are already being disrupted and more effects are expected. This will further hinder efforts to comply with these schemes and service our cities efficiently.”
“We have the necessary expertise, experience and appropriate manufacturing equipment, so we would welcome the opportunity to help in any way we can,” said Signal’s MD, James Clements
The UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has issued a call to manufacturers seeking support in the supply of ventilators and ventilator components as part of the response to Coronavirus.
Despite a healthy order book for gas analysers, Signal Group has responded positively; formally expressing a willingness to help.
“As a developer and manufacturer of precision gas analysis equipment, we are accustomed with the technologies involved in the reliable, measured flow of contaminant-free gases,” says Signal’s MD James Clements.
“We have the necessary expertise, experience and appropriate manufacturing equipment, so we would welcome the opportunity to help in any way we can.”
The UK Government is also seeking organisations with skills in design/specification, rapid prototyping, product assembly and certification/regulation/testing, so Signal has also offered its services in this regard.
Speaking on Monday 23rd March 2020, James Clements said:
“We are waiting to hear if our offer of help is accepted. For the time being, we are carrying on with our normal work, with as many staff as possible home-working and only essential staff coming into the Camberley factory, whilst maintaining appropriate social distancing.”
Earlier this month Re-Gen Robotics lifted the Safety Technology Award at the 2020 Global Tank Storage Awards, in Rotterdam, for revolutionising safety in the tank terminal industry.
Relief
Last week’s budget announcement brought relief to agriculture, rail, fish farming and non-commercial heating with all being exempt from the abolishment of the red diesel subsidy.
Whilst this news was well-received by UKIFDA, CEO Guy Pulham was ‘disappointed that the red diesel fuel duty relief freeze was not extended to the construction industry especially as a large amount of infrastructure projects were announced in the budget.’
The completion of a multi-million pounds infrastructure upgrade programme at Inter Terminals’ Grays facility on the Thames has increased throughput capacity and enabled the receipt/dispatch of increased volumes of petrol/diesel at significantly faster rates than previously possible.
Getting on top of the industry’s stories, Jane has travelled extensively across the UK and Ireland in search of interesting industry news and hot topics
After 21 years working on Fuel Oil News and having produced over 250 quality issues, Jane Raphael will be leaving her role as editor at Ashley & Dumville Publishing at the end of March where she has also been the editor of Oil Installer, another A&D publication, for 12 years.
Jane has been the face and heart of Fuel Oil News for half of the publication’s 42 years in existence and Nick Smith, managing director of A&D publishing commented:
“James Smith, the founder of Fuel Oil News, always expressed how lucky he felt to have Jane as editor. I too, have a huge amount of appreciation for the commitment she has given to A&D and the passion she has shown for telling the story of the fuel distribution business.”
Jane commented:
“It has been an interesting 21 years. Oil is a global product, one which touches everyday life for almost everyone on the planet, and there’s always a story to tell. It has been an absolute privilege to meet so many interesting people who work in this fascinating industry, to build relationships and to share their news with Fuel Oil News readers.”
Jane will continue in a consultancy role with us until early July and will also be attending the UKIFDA EXPO in Liverpool in June where, she says: “I will look forward very much to seeing many familiar industry faces.”
From April 1st communications should be directed to Margaret Major, publisher/managing editor. margaret@fueloilnews.co.uk and Stephanie Samuel, content editor stephanie@fueloilnews.co.uk
Certas Energy has opened a centralised refuelling hub at Hinkley Point C as part of its contract to supply the site with the fuel it needs to construct one of the UK’s largest infrastructure projects.
Grant UK, heating solutions provider in the off-gas heating sector, has outlined its vision for the future in a manifesto for change.
UKPIA has welcomed the Department for Transport’s recent announcement that they are consulting on proposals to introduce petrol blended with 10% bioethanol, otherwise known as E10.
Whilst this is a recognition of the significant role that low-carbon liquid hydrocarbon fuels can play in combating carbon emissions, the downstream oil sector also urges the UK government to ensure that its introduction occurs in a pragmatic and consumer-focused way.
“Introducing E10 into the UK has been under discussion for a long time, and it is a welcome development that the government are now consulting with industry on how best to implement this evolution to the fuel landscape,” said UKPIA director-general Stephen Marcos Jones.
Last month BP set out its new ambition to not only become net zero by 2050 or sooner, but also to help the world get to net zero. The ambition is supported by ten aims:
FIVE AIMS TO GET BP TO NET ZERO:
After ten years with the Freight Transport Association (FTA) chief executive David Wells has revealed his ambitions for the association’s next decade which includes a name change on 1st June.
In next week’s budget, new chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is looking to abolish the 80% red diesel subsidy which presently carries 11.1p duty, compared to 57.7p for standard fuel.
‘At the moment people aren’t incentivised to make the change to lower consumption or alternative fuels. We need to fix that,’ reported a government official.
As part of the government’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050, it is expected that taxes will be used to move fuel users away from fossil fuels. Removing the red diesel subsidy would raise around £2.4bn for government.
UKIFDA, which has urged the chancellor to reconsider, pointed out that red diesel, which is used by the construction, farming and marine industries, accounts for 15% of all diesel sales in the UK.
‘Any increase in fuel duty will not only have a major impact on UKIFDA members and their customers but could also see significantly increasing costs to farmers and construction companies.’
The UK Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA) has welcomed the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) funding towards hydrogen projects at Essar’s Stanlow oil refinery and a renewable hydrogen Gigastack project which involves the Humber refinery.
ESSAR
Funding of £13 million has been awarded to the HyNet consortium, of which Essar Oil UK is a member. Plans include the development of a Low Carbon Hydrogen Plant at the Stanlow refinery. This will produce 3TWh of low carbon hydrogen whilst also pioneering carbon capture storage (CCS) technology to capture and store over 95% of carbon used in the process. The funding will also support a front-end engineering design (FEED) study for a new hydrogen-fired combined heat and power (CHP) at Stanlow.
“The HyNet project is one of the most ambitious low-carbon industrial cluster initiatives in Europe,” said Stephen Marcos Jones, UKPIA’s director-general.
“As well as showing more broadly how the downstream oil sector is vital to the UK’s ambitions to reach ‘Net Zero’ emissions by 2050, this really demonstrates just how critical the refinery is to the success of these efforts to decarbonise the economy of the north west of England.
PHILLIPS 66
Working in partnership with offshore wind company Ørsted, hydrogen producers ITM Power and with funding from BEIS, the Gigastack project will allow the Phillips 66 refinery site to utilise ‘green hydrogen’ produced from renewable energy in its operations and processes.
“This project illustrates the potential outlined in UKPIA’s recently published ‘Future Vision’ report,” said Stephen Marcos Jones.
“The project demonstrates the major role the UK’s downstream oil sector can play in the low-carbon energy transition. Working with renewable energy companies and in cooperation with government, this investment in ‘green hydrogen’ is an indication of how UK refineries can be world-leaders in decarbonising their manufacturing operations.
“Downstream oil companies such as Essar Oil UK and Phillips 66 have the experience, engineering expertise and business acumen necessary to make the transition to a low-carbon future a reality for the benefit of both industry and wider society.”
StocExpo will release its first INDUSTRY TRENDS REPORT when the event returns to the Rotterdam Ahoy from 10 – 12 March 2020. According to the report, which surveyed the opinions of 171 key decision makers at businesses across the bulk liquid storage supply chain, 46% agree the skills shortage caused by ageing workforces and a lack of fresh young talent is the biggest challenge facing the industry today.
Despite this, far more work is being done right now to maximise basic profit levers than to address upskilling and attracting the next generation of workers, leading the report to speculate that reducing costs and boosting capacity are relatively easy and short-term ways to salve the complex and abstract “people-problem”.
The report also identifies and explores trends like the growth of LNG and hydrogen, which are on the diversification agenda for more than half of storage terminal respondents, but only 22% and 6% are storing LNG and hydrogen respectively at present.
The research also highlights the rise of niche storage areas expected to grow over the next two years, including chemical and speciality chemical storage according to 48% and 43% of respondents respectively, as well as the storage of biodiesels (43%) and vegetable oils (28%).
The research has directly informed the show’s conference programme, which will address all of the issues raised, such as sustainability, digitalisation, IMO 2020, skills and the rise of new storage areas, head on.
“StocExpo has always focused on providing value to the bulk liquid storage industry,” said Mark Rimmer, StocExpo divisional director.
“That’s why it’s the main event for the sector with our position naturally giving us a birds-eye-view of the industry and unique access to a huge number of bulk liquid storage’s best and brightest. Something we’ve leveraged to deliver even more value this year in the form of an Industry Trends Report.
“The report will offer intelligent insight into the commonalities among businesses in the supply chain and shine a light on the perceived challenges and opportunities. That, coupled with our conference programme of expert speakers who will be talking on all the issues raised, will hopefully give the industry a sense of solidarity, direction and confidence equipping it as it faces down a somewhat demanding future.”
The StocExpo Trends Report will be available for free to all delegates and exhibitors and will be made available to the wider public after the show.
For more information visit www.stocexpo.com.
UKIFDA, which continues to monitor and actively help resolve the issues some farmers and contractors have been experiencing with biodiesel, is ‘happy to report a significant decrease in reported issues since December last year’ with an improving picture on farming equipment
As part of its long-term strategy to grow its company-owned portfolio alongside the continued expansion of its dealer network, JET Retail UK has made further acquisitions