The two-year Dedicated to Gas project, part funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles and Innovate UK, deployed 20 Euro VI vehicles running on a combination of compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquified natural gas (LNG) to three fleet operators – Asda, Howard Tenens and Kuehne + Nagel.
The trial vehicles travelled over 2.2 million kilometres, in total saving over 1,400 tonnes of well-to-wheel CO2e. The results show that, when compared to diesel, vehicles would make at least 17% greenhouse gas emission savings with a 25% biomethane blend (B25), and 100% biomethane (B100) yields savings of at least 76%.
This is the first UK study to assess the performance of in-service and tested vehicles which are all Euro VI factory-fitted OEM gas vehicles. The drivers from the fleets reported that gas vehicles performed better than diesel models in engine noise, vibration, overall drive comfort, engine braking and environmental performance.
Despite the higher upfront cost of gas vehicles – and higher maintenance costs than diesel trucks – the reduced fuel bill means that payback can be achieved in the second year, says the study.
“This is an exciting time for the gas truck industry: after a decade of hard work, the UK is now in a position where there is a wide variety of OEM gas trucks and clean renewable biomethane available from public refuelling stations,” says Steve Carroll, head of transport at project partner Cenex.
“This project proved the economic, environmental and operational case for gas trucks powered by biomethane. With around 80% well-to-wheel CO2 reduction from diesel, this proven technology can provide a significant in-road to meeting our net zero targets and Cenex now look forward to assisting fleets in making the switch.”
Other companies participating in the Dedicated to Gas project include Air Liquide, Emissons Analytics and Microlise.
Updated 13/11/19 9:42: Switched picture to current project.