Scottish council now fuels garbage trucks with renewable diesel

Image: North Ayrshire Council

The North Ayrshire Council in Scotland announced March 12 that it has switched 36 garbage trucks from diesel fuel to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), also known as renewable diesel.

As a result, there is potential over a 12-month period for the council to save around 2,529 metric tons of carbon emissions from being created.

The initiative aligns with the Scottish government’s sustainability ambitions, including phasing out the need for any new gas or diesel vehicles in public-sector fleets by 2030 and ending the sale of heavy-duty diesel vehicles between 3.5 tons and 26 tons by 2035.

“As a local authority, we are continually striving to reduce our carbon footprint and ensure that climate change and sustainability are at the heart of the decisions we make,” said Councilor Tony Gurney, a cabinet member for the green environment and economy.

“Using HVO will help to make a significant impact, cutting the overall reduction of fleet-produced emissions by more than 20 percent,” he said.

The council's vision is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030 and to halt biodiversity loss—and be ‘nature positive’—by 2030.

Certas Energy supplies renewable diesel to the council.

“We are thrilled to be fueling the transition to net zero for North Ayrshire Council, which is one of a growing number of public-sector organizations switching to HVO,” said Darren Holloway, Certas Energy’s commercial director for energy solutions.

“Demand for HVO is growing year-on-year across the U.K. as more organizations are understanding the sustainability benefits of switching to this fuel,” Holloway added. “We anticipate this trend to continue for the next decade, and the public sector will be a key driver for this.”