Royal Mail to fuel HGVs with HVO as it waits for electric alternatives

Royal Mail is ditching diesel to fuel some of its HGV fleet in favour of a renewable diesel alternative, hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO).

HVO is a drop-in, fossil-free biofuel that can cut up to 90% of greenhouse gas emissions, according to figures from Certas Energy, and does not require any engine or fuelling infrastructure modifications.

Royal Mail’s Sheffield mail centre, Midlands ‘super hub’ and Manchester vehicle operating centre are the first sites to transition to HVO with four more locations to follow in the coming months.

The locations have been chosen based on where HGVs move significant volumes for major customers.

Using HVO at these sites will save a combined consumption of 2.1 million litres of diesel this year, says Royal Mail.

Rob Fowler, fleet director at Royal Mail, explained: “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.”

Fowler says it views HVO as a transitional fuel that can help it take steps towards decarbonising the company’s HGV fleet while low-emission alternatives continue to be developed.

“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,” he said.

“Many of these technologies are still in development and are currently not commercially viable to deploy at scale.”

The transition to HVO is part of Royal Mail’s Steps to Zero plan – a drive to reduce the business’ carbon emissions to net zero by 2040.

Through its ambitious plan, Royal Mail has set a long-term target to reduce its average emissions per parcel to 50gCO2e from the current 218gCO2e.

Royal Mail plans to continue to increase its HVO deployment across its local and national distribution fleet network over the coming years, aiming to reduce its direct emissions by up to 200,000 tonnes of CO2e.

For the first year of deployment, Certas Energy will be supporting Royal Mail with its roll-out of HVO. 

Jamie Hodges, head of national accounts at Certas Energy, said: “We are delighted to support Royal Mail in making significant strides in their energy transition.

“Certas Energy HVO is a transformative transitional fuel, helping Royal Mail to dramatically reduce emissions, with immediate effect and without sacrificing productivity.

“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.

“We are dedicated to helping businesses solve the ‘energy trilemma’ and we hope the example set by Royal Mail will inspire others in the industry to take action to accelerate their own sustainability efforts.” 

The use of HVO by Royal Mail comes just after it took delivery of its 5,000th electric van. It will also be deployed at Sheffield City Delivery Office, where more than 50 EVs on site are being used for delivery and collection functions.