Interview
A company backing alternative fuels As well as building a dedicated biomethane gas filling station at its head office in Bracknell this year, the John Lewis Partnership has a target to stop using fossil fuels across its entire 4,800 fleet by 2030. Justin Laney, the company’s general manager of central transport, talks through the plans
John Lewis Partnership has been using biomethane since 2015. What makes this fuel suitable for your objectives? Transport contributes over 25 per cent to the John Lewis Partnership’s operational carbon emissions and that’s why we established an industry leading aim to have a zero carbon transport fleet by 2045. Biomethane forms an important part of our transport carbon reduction. And because long distance, heavy trucks form about 15 per cent of our fleet and are accounting for 70 per cent of our emissions, these vehicles were our priority and are the hardest to tackle. We’ve been working with alternative fuels for over a decade. Back in 2011 we worked with Imperial College Biofuels Department - a leader in this field – to assess a broad range of biofuels,
28
time being as it’s 100 per cent renewable looking for the best combination of true and is made from food waste and food sustainability, sufficient scale to make a processing waste materials rather than real difference, and potential to deliver a diesel, each vehicle reduces CO2 emissions credible business case vs diesel. Biomethane by 80 per cent, with each truck saving created from the right waste materials over 100 tonnes of CO2 every year. These was identified as the optimum solution. gas trucks are also quieter, decreasing To achieve a zero net carbon fleet we noise pollution, which is especially need to transition to a fully electric heavy important when we do urban deliveries. vehicle fleet but current technology and infrastructure does not support this so we Tell us about the biomethane have invested in biomethane – a low-carbon gas filling station you are alternative to diesel – for the past eight having built at your head office years and have been one of the pioneers Our new biomethane gas filling station in the UK. Our commitment to it is so will be built in conjunction with strong that by 2028 all 600 of our Air Liquide and will open at heavy goods vehicles for John Althoug the Waitrose head office in Lewis and Waitrose will be Bracknell in December switched to biomethane. biometh h 2020, making it our Although biomethane isn’t net ane first on-site gas filling isn’t net zero, it is the z e r o , the bes station. It will facilitate best alternative for the t alternait is for the the conversion of t iv e t im e 120 Waitrose heavy b eing as it’s 10 goods vehicles to 0 p e r cent renewa biomethane and b le a n complement gas filling d is made fr om f stations already in use near to John Lewis and waste ood Waitrose regional distribution centres in Leyland, Lancashire, and in Northampton.
DRIVING THE SWITCH TO CLEANER COMMERCIAL FLEETS | www.greenfleet.net/commercial
