Posted on 07 July 2011
Powering refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) using biomethane can deliver both greatly reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and cost savings for UK local authorities. These are the findings of a major year long trial of the fuel by Leeds City Council, which received technical advice from Cenex, the UK Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technologies. The trial findings were released at the UK AD & Biogas 2011 conference and the report is available to download from www.cenex.co.uk/resources.
The trial vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz Econic LLG with a spark ignition engine running solely on biomethane gas, is estimated to have achieved a 49 per cent saving in well-to-wheel GHG emissions, compared to the diesel Econics in the council’s fleet. However, this was achieved using a temporary filling station – a more efficient permanent station raises the GHG saving to 64 per cent, with possible 78 per cent savings estimated if gas was generated on-site. Additionally, lower fuel expenditure meant that annual vehicle running costs were estimated to be £2,500 less than a diesel equivalent. While gas vehicles currently cost more to purchase than diesel RCVs, this gap is expected to narrow as production volumes increase.