2 minute read
Zekrulah Ahmadi
ZEKRULAH’S FOSSIL-FREE FILL UPS
Every day, Zekrulah Ahmadi drives an extra 20 kilometers or so for the sake of the environment. He and his colleagues have increased the proportion of fossilfree diesel in their tanks by 43 percent.
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AT 5 a.m., Zekrulah Ahmadi enters the drivers’ room at the terminal in Växjö, southern Sweden. He fetches his work phone and truck keys. He transports medicines so he has to make sure that the temperature in the truck is just right, about five degrees.
Zekrulah likes the variety of driving, loading and unloading. But between delivering parcels to Alvesta, pharmacy goods to Älmhult and candy to grocery stores in Växjö, he occasionally drives to Norremark to fill up with renewable diesel, known as HVO100.
“It wasn’t a given from the start as it is a 40-minute detour every day”, Zekrulah says. “But when you think about the difference it makes, it feels right. Of course I want to hand over a world of clean air to the next generation.”
IF THERE WERE more filling stations offering HVO100 in the area, there wouldn’t be any problems. Instead, there’s now a lot of work in piecing together the puzzle of times and streamlining work schedules and, not least, there’s a strong desire on the part of all drivers to be able to fill up with fossil-free fuel.
The first target was 20 percent fossil-free diesel in the terminal’s trucks, then 40 percent. Now that goal has been reached, Zekrulah thinks the bar should be raised to 60–70 percent. “Many people think it’s cool that we’ve come this far in such a short time and I’m incredibly proud of us”, Zekrulah says. “But we can only do what we can; we need more HVO100 stations, too.”
ZEKRULAH CAME TO Sweden just six years ago as an unaccompanied refugee from Afghanistan at 17. He says his Swedish is so good because he has been motivated to study from the outset and has studied hard. After completing the transport program at upper secondary school, his first transport jobs were in waste collection. Since October 2020, he has been a PostNord driver. The job has made him think more about the environment in general.
“It can be small things like not having to turn on the light in the break room if it’s still light enough”, says Zekrulah. “I try to bear in mind that I should only buy what I need – which is also good for my finances.”
IN THE FUTURE, he hopes to be assigned more responsibility and be able to continue his climate work:
“I want to get a towing license and maybe become a supervisor in the future. I’m determined to do better so that we can achieve our goals. One day we will be completely fossil-free and I will have contributed to a better environment.”
