Store chain to run more '˜green' trucks after Lancashire success

​It follows the results of a study into lorries using a UK-first gas filling station in Leyland.

It was found that trucks using it emitted 84 per cent less carbon dioxide than diesel vehicles,

Cadent, the UK’s biggest gas network, commissioned independent analysis of the first 14 months of the station, operated by CNG Fuels, at Leyland.

Its customers include trucks from Waitrose.

Cadent says this report provides evidence that compressed natural gas (CNG), ideally taken from high-pressure pipes, should be the fuel of choice for HGVs in the future.

A strategic switch from diesel to market-ready gas can have a significant and immediate impact on UK Government’s stated commitment to reduce emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, and support the drive for cleaner air, said Cadent.

HGVs account for 15 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions from UK transport and four per cent of total UK emissions. Cadent partnered with CNG Fuels to construct the UK’s first facility to compress gas taken direct from the high-pressure system, close to the M6, at Leyland.

David Parkin, director for network strategy at Cadent, said: “This report proves there are significant environmental and economic benefits not just in using compressed natural gas, but in dispensing it from the high-pressure system.”

Waitrose’s dedicated CNG lorries which fuel up at the site have a range of up to 500 miles on a full tank, travelling across the Midlands and northern England.

Justin Laney, general manager of transport at John Lewis Partnership (which incorporates Waitrose), said: “As well as being quieter, every long-distance lorry we switch from diesel to gas saves as much CO2 as taking 70 cars off the road. This is why we plan to switch more of our trucks to biomethane in the future.”