CENEX, the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for low carbon vehicle technologies, has released the results of the year-long trial running a biomethane-powered vehicle with Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE). Driven by a desire to produce a step change reduction in fleet carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) contracted Cenex to evaluate and compare the emissions, fuel consumption, economics, reliability and operability of a 26 tonne Iveco Stralis gas vehicle with that of a Stralis diesel vehicle.
Gas vehicle operation reduced NOx and PM emissions by 85.6% and 97.1% respectively. The gas vehicle achieved a 50.3% saving in well-to-wheel GHG emissions, compared to the diesel Stralis vehicle (see image above).
However, this was achieved using a temporary filling station – a more efficient permanent station being installed at the CCE depot raises the GHG saving to 60.7%. Additionally, operating the gas vehicle on biomethane reduced the fuel costs by 12.8%.
The success of the 12-month trial led to CCE’s investment of £1.75M (USD 2.76 million) to run 14 of its trucks on biomethane for the duration of the London 2012 Olympic Games, of which it is an official sponsor. The investment included a gas station which is due to be operational at the Enfield depot in June 2012. The new CCE gas fleet will consume approximately 168 tonnes of biomethane saving over 300 tonnes of CO2, 1590 kgs of NOx and 33 kgs of PM emissions per annum.
Seven drivers commented on the overall performance of the gas vehicle; it scored 4.6 and was rated higher than the diesel that scored 4.1. However both vehicles received positive performance ratings of between good and excellent. Also, drivers rated gas as a safer method of refuelling than diesel.
According to an article published by Transport Engineer, Darren O’Donnell, logistics asset manager at CCE said, “Our primary reason for selecting compressed biomethane is that it has the lowest carbon intensity of all commercially available alternative fuels, allowing us to benefit from the best possible well-to-wheel saving.”
The complete Coca-Cola Enterprises Biomethane Trial report is available from the CENEX website.
