UK transport secretary opens green refuelling station at UPS hub
The UK’s transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, opened a new biomethane refuelling station at the UPS hub in central England yesterday. The new refuelling station at the site in Tamworth, Staffordshire, will be used by the delivery company’s 20 duel-fuel tractor vehicles, which use a mixture of diesel and biomethane, a renewable fuel.
The vehicles are used on longer journeys, overnight, and UPS says the alternate fuel use means 40% fewer carbon emissions and “very low” levels of air pollutant emissions.
The new refuelling station comes with a 10-tonne cryogenic storage tank.
George Willis, the UPS managing director for the UK, Ireland and the Nordics (left) with UK secretary of state Patrick McLoughlin at the new facility
Peter Harris, the director of sustainability at UPS Europe, said hopes were that the project would illustrate the benefits of biomethane to government.
“The transport sector has very limited access to biomethane, as government incentives for producers tend to be preferential towards the energy sector where other alternatives more readily exist,” he explained.
“We hope today’s event can encourage a discussion on how best to address this discrepancy.”
UPS first introduced biomethane-powered vehicles to the UK for its operations during the London 2012 Olympics, for which it was official logistics partner. At the conclusion of the Games, the company incorporated the vehicles permanently in its UK fleet.
Commenting as he opened the new refuelling station in Tamworth, the transport secretary said: “I am really pleased to see this in action here in Tamworth. We are keen to see more use of biogas, which is why we have extended tax incentives on all gas transport fuels. This will provide more support for those considering investing in these technologies.”
