Thirty-five dual-fuel vehicles will run on Bio-LNG from Gasrec’s refuelling station at Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal: a ground-breaking installation that will officially open to all dual-fuel LGVs in May, much like a traditional petrol station. Bio-LNG is Gasrec’s proprietary, future-proof blend of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid biomethane (LBM) – a natural, green source of renewable energy produced from organic matter such as household food waste and sewage.

Gasrec says the deal will cut Tesco’s CO2 emissions by a minimum of 15%, with a 90% reduction in NOx and particulate matter emissions, helping Tesco to achieve its target of reducing emissions per case of goods delivered by 25% by 2020 (from 2011 baseline). Tesco has already halved the emissions per case delivered in the UK between 2006-2011.

The retailer already has a distribution centre in Daventry, so deploying 35 Mercedes dual-fuel HGVs from Gasrec’s base there makes perfect sense. Tesco Distribution’s group environmental manager, Joe Carthy, said: “A gas refuelling station on our doorstep is ideal for us. We are committed to converting vehicles to dual fuel and reducing carbon emissions. Gasrec’s infrastructure and Bio-LNG fuel will allow us to do this across our network in years to come.”

Gasrec’s commercial development manager, Doug Leaf, added that the public and private sectors “are really seeing the ability of Bio-LNG to cut costs and pollution”.  

Daventry is the first of seven stations which Gasrec is building to complete the UK’s first strategic refuelling infrastructure for gas-powered vehicles at multiple locations across the UK road network.

The agreement between Tesco and Gasrec follows the supermarket securing funding from the government-backed Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform (LCVIP) which provides match-funded grants to businesses best able to nurture low-carbon vehicle technologies. The LCVIP aims to slash vehicle carbon emissions and help the UK freight sector benefit from growing demand for low carbon vehicles. To date, around £60mn has been committed to more than 75 projects.