UK supermarket chain Tesco powers 25 vans with Gasrec’s sustainable fuel from landfill sites

Original Press Release by NGVA Europe member Gasrec (UK)

Tesco is commissioning 25 Iveco EcoDaily light commercial vehicles  fuelled by sustainable Liquid Biomethane for its online grocery shopping and delivery service tesco.com. The fuel is made by UK company, Gasrec (the first commercial producer of Liquid Biomethane in Europe), and is created by extracting naturally occurring methane from organic waste in landfill sites and converting it to a high quality, clean fuel.

Gasrec will initially supply fuel for the 25 Liquid Biomethane-fuelled 5.3 tonne Iveco EcoDailys to Tesco’s dedicated regional distribution centre for its Tesco.com home delivery service, at Greenford. If the vehicles prove successful, then Tesco has said it will consider rolling out Gasrec biomethane-powered vehicles across more of its Tesco.com fleet. The first vehicles will come into use in August 2010.

Gasrec’s Liquid Biomethane is created by extracting the natural gas produced from biomass in landfill. The gas is then converted to Liquid Biomethane, has the lowest carbon footprint of all the renewable vehicles and is commercially competitive against diesel and petrol. In addition it can be directly substituted for both Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). This Liquid Biomethane is then used to fuel dedicated gas-powered or duel-fuel vehicles; or for decentralised (off grid) power generation.

Gasrec is providing a refuelling facility for the Greenford site through its partner, Gas Container Services (GCS) which provides infrastructure for sustainable gas-based fuels. Gasrec’s Liquid Biomethane is UK sourced, sustainable and commercially competitive. It is a much cleaner alternative to diesel: a successful six month trial in Camden (London) of a Gasrec-fuelled Iveco Daily 65C14G cage tipper (used for street cleansing operations on behalf of Camden Council) resulted in a 62 per cent saving in CO² over diesel.

Gasrec is a preferred supplier of Liquid Biomethane fuel to Iveco, and is working with a number of councils (such as Camden), commercial fleet owners (such as Tesco and Sainsburys) and heavy vehicle owners (such as East Midlands Airport) to provide vehicles running on Compressed and Liquid Biomethane fuel.

All tesco.com drivers who will be driving the new Gasrec vehicles will be fully trained and familiarised with the new vehicles by the time the vans come into commission in August.

Richard Lilleystone, CEO of Gasrec, says: “Biomethane has been described as the sleeping giant of sustainable vehicle fuels. The adoption of the fuel by Tesco and other such businesses is a sure indicator that the giant has woken. Tesco will enjoy the substantial environmental performance and cost savings benefits that the use of our fuel facilitates. At the same time, it avoids the issues of limited range and sub- standard performance that many of the alternative fuel systems engender, especially electricity.  Furthermore, it’s locally sourced – this is all produced from organic waste in the UK.”

Dino Papas, Fleet and Equipment Operations manager of Tesco.com, says: “Reducing our carbon footprint is something we take very seriously, and have made a clear commitment to. Using Gasrec’s Liquid Biomethane is an important part of that commitment. But vehicle performance is also extremely important, so we can get goods to our customers on time. Gasrec’s liquid Biomethane we hope will prove to be a real viable alternative to diesel for us.”

To speak to Gasrec or Tesco about this story, please contact

Kate Hartley

Carrot Communications

Tel: +44 771 406 5233

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Source: Gasrec (http://www.gasrec.co.uk/)

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Terminology:

CNG - Compressed Natural Gas

LNG - Liquefied Natural Gas

NGV - Natural Gas Vehilce

NG/biomethnane - Natural Gas and biomethane as a fuel

Note: When NGVA Europe uses the terms CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) or LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), this always and automatically also comprehends compressed or liquefied biomethane. But to simplify matters, NGVA Europe mostly makes reference to the commonly used terms CNG and LNG only. The European Emission Regulation (EC) No 692/2008 issued on July 18, 2008, consequently uses the term NG/biomethane when describing the fuel used in NGVs (Natural Gas Vehilces). NGVA Europe follows the same principle.

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