Sainsbury’s is using a lorry powered by a mixture of diesel and bio-methane produced from landfill waste, for daily food deliveries from its Bristol-based distribution centre to its new environmental store in Dartmouth. This dual-fuel combustion technology, designed by Clean Air Power, could help the supermarket cut its carbon dioxide emissions by up to 60 per cent. Bio-methane is said to be a cleaner and cheaper alternative to diesel.
Alison Austin, environmental affairs manager, Sainsbury’s, said: “This is a real first for how food is delivered in the UK, although the technology is already used in Lille, France where city buses and refuse lorries run on bio-methane. Our aim is to now roll this out to our entire fleet so that we can make this technology work for all food deliveries across the UK. We’re proud to be the first UK supermarket to deliver food using these technologies in partnership with Clean Air Power, Gasrec and BOC.”
Sainsbury’s is aiming to reduce the like-for-like distance its fleet and suppliers travel by 5,000 metres by 2010. It is also working to convert 20 per cent of its online delivery vehicles to electric vans.
