Wednesday, 06 January 2021
On 21 December 2020, Air Liquide had announced that it had reached a deal to install and operated biomethane stations for Asda fleet vehicles.
In the lead-up to Christmas 2020, British retail group Asda took delivery of 202 natural gas vehicles and is expected to commission 300 natural gas vehicles in 2021.
As part of their strategy to lower their carbon footprint for their transport activities, Asda is transitioning their entire fleet of 1000 tractor units from diesel to gas by 2024. A fleet of this size would be expected to consume approximately 650 GWh of biomethane a year with 80% CO2 emissions reduction compared to diesel.
To this end, the French gas firm Air Liquide will install filling stations at six ASDA sites.
“We are very pleased to support our customers who choose renewable fuels to reduce their emissions,” said Emilie Mouren-Renouard, Member of the Air Liquide Executive Committee, in charge of Innovation, Digital & IT, Intellectual Property and Global Markets & Technologies World Business Unit.
As the biomethane is to be used as a green transport fuel in the UK, the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) scheme is relevant. The scheme, administered by the UK Department of Transport aims to promote the use of renewable fuels in lieu of fossil fuels for road transport.
The biomethane produced will be eligible for RTFO certificates, or RTFCs. The value of the certificate varies, but is capped at 30 p per certificate.
Biomethane is eligible for 1.9 RTFCs per kg, but may receive double this rate (3.8 RTFCs per kg) if derived from waste (as opposed to biomethane derived from crops, which is considered less sustainable).
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