Crown Oil runs fleet on renewable diesel fuel

Fuel supplier Crown Oil is running its entire fleet on renewable diesel fuel as it commits to reduce its direct CO2 greenhouse gas emissions by 90%.

The Greater Manchester business, part of the £420m-turnover Crown Oil family of companies, said it predicts a saving of around 3,080 tonnes of CO2 in 12 months from running its 85 delivery vehicles on HVO compared to standard diesel.

One tonne of carbon dioxide is the average emission of one passenger on a return flight between Paris and New York, said Crown Oil.

Crown’s fleet is made up of heavy-goods vehicles (HGVs), pickups, trailers and vans which are all approved to run on HVO fuel without technical adjustments or any reduction in vehicle performance.

The company said HVO offers a ‘fast’ and ‘simple’ step towards net-zero without the need for electrification or vehicle modifications, reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 27%.

Matthew Greensmith, managing director at Crown Oil, said the move showcases the fuel’s ability to perform as a diesel alternative.

Greensmith added: “We can’t expect others to make a change without leading by example, and we’re proud to run our entire fleet on HVO.

“We believe we’re currently the first and only UK supplier to power our vehicles with the renewable diesel and we hope it encourages businesses to go green with their fleets too.”

Since investing in HVO in 2018, Crown said its customers have saved 18,945 tonnes of CO2 by switching to the renewable diesel.

Crown HVO can be used in vehicles, commercial boilers (running on gas oil), tractors, generators, machinery, and inland waterway vessels.

Crown Oil said it has called on the UK government to introduce tax relief on fuels such as HVO to encourage greater uptake.

Greensmith said: “When it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we hope the Government will adopt a multi-point strategy to include the use of high-content renewable fuels in addition to the development of the electric vehicle market.

“In 2017, the Swedish government passed a bill that enabled biofuels to be subject to tax exemption, which led to a 124% increase in HVO sales in October 2017 compared with the previous year.

“The UK government is planning to scrap red diesel duty relief for many sectors from 1 April 2022 to encourage the use of cleaner alternatives and we are calling for duty relief on fuels such as HVO to help encourage uptake.”