FM Conway expands HVO use
FM Conway has extended its use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) in its local and strategic highways operations as it continues to move from diesel to achieve net zero.
The biofuel, which is made from re-used cooking oils and is fossil-free, serves as a direct replacement for diesel. It provides up to 90% fewer CO2 savings, as well as benefitting air quality through reduced nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions.
For FM Conway, it claims the project will save around 3,000 tonnes CO2e, through to the end of the current financial year. In April, next year it will assess the feasibility of making a permanent switch to HVO.
The investment is a major step to the company’s net zero strategy, taking the equivalent of 60 HGVs off the road for one year. It believes HVO provides significant emission reductions and help FM Conway and its clients reach their shared net zero ambitions while other solutions are also developed.
The fuel will be supplied by New Era Energy, whose delivery trucks will also be powered by HVO, maximising carbon savings across the supply chain. The sustainability of the product’s feedstock is accredited to the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC).
The traceability of feedstocks is also approved through Zemo Partnership’s Renewable Fuels Assurance Scheme (RFAS), which verifies companies’ claims on greenhouse gas emission savings and raw material sources for renewable fuels used in heavy-duty vehicles.
Matt Tallon, sustainability director at FM Conway, said:
“We are already tackling embodied carbon through our pioneering material circularity approach, and this switch to HVO represents another step toward making CO2 savings and improving the air quality across all phases of the works we deliver.
“It supports our ethos of leading positive change in the infrastructure industry through experimentation and innovation. Our self-delivery model allows us a greater degree of independence and flexibility with our operations, processes, products and fleet, giving us room to test different approaches and ultimately deliver benefits to our clients. The extended run of this trial, until April next year, will give our clients a taste of what’s available and achievable – and how they can use it to accelerate their own decarbonisation journey.”
Image courtesy of FM Conway