Cenex announces trial of natural gas-fuelled lorries

Cenex – the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for low carbon technologies – today announced its involvement in the UK’s largest trial of biomethane-fuelled lorries. Led by Air Liquide – world leader in gases, technologies and services for industry and health – and funded in part by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles  in partnership with Innovate UK via the recently launched Low Emission Freight and Logistics Project, the ‘Dedicated to Gas’ trial will see large fleet operators including Kuehne + Nagel, Wincanton, ASDA, Brit European, Howard Tenens and Great Bear, trial the effectiveness of 81 dedicated gas-powered heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). The five lorries being trialled range from 12 to 44 tonnes, and are all new to the UK market. The trial will road test the HGVs across 10 different vehicle configurations, creating a wealth of valuable data on vehicle performance, fuel efficiency, reliability and cost. Trial vehicles running on compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) are expected to reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 8 per cent, and those run on biomethane can expect to see a 70 per cent reduction in CO₂ emissions, compared to a similarly sized diesel HGV. The trial will also test the effectiveness of a new cryogenic trailer refrigeration technology. The liquid nitrogen cooling system promises to reduce the high energy demands of refrigeration units, further reducing HGVs CO₂ and air quality emissions. The project aims to demonstrate lower-emissions technology innovation into the UK’s logistics industry and HGV fleets, which account for 17% of all UK road transport emissions. Working in partnership with Air Liquide, the project lead, Cenex will manage all data analysis and project dissemination, update a dedicated gas vehicle hub website, and organize informational workshops for participating fleet operators and interested members of the industry. Participating fleets will be supported by technical experts who will collate comprehensive data via telematics systems provided by Microlise and PEMS testing by Emissions Analytics, providing a complete analysis of the potential benefits of dedicated gas technology compared to diesel. Source: Cenex