For six months Pendle Borough Council’s fleet of recycling bin wagons has been powered by eco-friendly fuel hydrated vegetable oil.
And at the latest Policy and Resources Committee meeting on Thursday 22 September, councillors agreed that this trial should continue.
Councillor Nadeem Ahmed, Leader of Pendle Borough Council, said: “We are one of only a handful of councils to be investing in more eco-friendly fuels.
“These have many benefits, particularly a reduction in the harmful emissions produced by other fuels such as diesel.
“It’s fantastic that we’ve been able to make this commitment to reducing emissions by moving more of our fleet onto hydrated vegetable oil (HVO) permanently.”
Councillor Sarah Cockburn-Price, Chairman of the Council’s Climate Emergency Working Group, said: “It’s a big step towards making sure we meet our target to reduce emissions from our fleet – a key action in our Climate Emergency Plan.”
Pendle Borough Council declared a Climate Emergency in July 2019, pledging to tackle the environmental crisis, which is affecting people locally, nationally and globally.
David Walker, Environmental Services Manager, explained that emission savings from using HVO are recorded to be about 2.30kg per litre lower than diesel fuel.
He said: “From April through to the beginning of September the six pilot vehicles which had been switched used 15,940 litres of HVO which is a carbon saving of 36,662kg of C02 over the trial period.
“When multiplied by the total amount of fuel we bought last year, HVO will provide a significant carbon saving of over 500,000 kg of CO2 per year if used in every fleet vehicle.
“The use of HVO also improves performance over diesel in cold conditions and leads to a reduction in engine noise.”
Image: David Walker, Environmental Services Manager
